A new poll has been released by Quinnipiac University, which asked people in New York if they supported recreational marijuana legalization, medical marijuana only, or if they wanted marijuana to remain completely illegal. While the results didn’t show overwhelming support for full legalization, it did find that less than 1 in 5 New Yorkers support full prohibition. Per the poll:
Only 35 percent of New York State voters want to legalize marijuana for personal use, while 44 percent want to legalize marijuana for medical use only and 19 percent say marijuana should not be legal, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
There are wide gender and age gaps on personal marijuana use, with 43 percent of men and 27 percent of women in favor. Support for personal use is 43 percent among voters 18 to 34 years old, 40 percent among voters 35 to 54 years old and 29 percent among voters over 55 years old.
Support is 21 percent among Republicans, 37 percent among Democrats and 39 percent among independent voters.
Support for medicinal use only, now legal in New York State, is 34 percent among men, 53 percent among women, 46 percent each among Republicans and Democrats and 43 percent among independent voters.
Past marijuana use apparently is a small issue in the New York governor’s race as 4 percent of voters say they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who has used marijuana in the past, while 17 percent say they would be less likely to vote for the candidate and 77 percent say past marijuana use would not affect their vote.
New York recently legalized medical marijuana, although it was in a limited way, and has yet to be implemented. I’d like to see a poll that asks people straight up if they support legal recreational marijuana or not. When they bunch it in with other questions, I think it skews the results a little. Still, knowing that less than 1 in 5 New Yorkers supports full prohibition is encouraging.
