By Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
Solid majorities of voters in the swing states of Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania support the legalization of marijuana for adult use, and super-majorities in Florida and Ohio support efforts to medicalize the plant, according to polling data provided today by Quinnipiac University.
Fifty-six percent of Florida voters believe that state law ought to allow “adults to legally possess for personal use small amounts of marijuana.” Only majorities of self-identified Republicans and respondents over the age of 65 oppose legalization.
With regard to the question of permitting medical cannabis access, 80 percent of Floridians say that “they will vote for a constitutional amendment this November allowing for medical marijuana.” The 2016 ballot measure, entitled the “Use of Marijuana for Debilitating Conditions,” will appear before voters as Amendment 2. Passage of the amendment would permit qualified patients to possess and obtain cannabis from state-licensed facilities. Support for the measure is over 70 percent among every party, gender, education, age and ethnic group measured, Quinnipiac reported.
In Ohio, 52 percent of voters endorse “allowing adults to legally possess small amounts of marijuana for personal use,” and 90 percent support “legalizing the use of medical marijuana.” Legislation to permit the limited use of non-herbal cannabis formulations by qualified patients was recently passed by Ohio House lawmakers and awaits further action by the Senate. A separate, more comprehensive medical marijuana measure sponsored by the Marijuana Policy Project may appear on the November 2016 Ohio ballot.
In Pennsylvania, voters support by a margin of 57 percent to 39 percent the notion of “allowing adults to legally possess small amounts of marijuana for personal use.” As in Florida, only Republicans and voters over 65 years old expressed majority opposition to legalization. Quinnipiac pollsters did not ask voters to provide their opinions with regard to medicinal cannabis, which state lawmakers just legalized in April.
The Quinnipiac survey results are similar to those of other recent national polls, such as those by reported by CBS, Gallup, and Pew, finding that a majority of Americans now support ending marijuana prohibition.
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