What Do These Polls Say Generally?

• Aggregate totals
• Number and type of respondents
• Types of studies
• Geography and timing
• Since September 11, 2001
• Polling Sponsors and Research Firms

Imagine you are a politician. Your aide bursts into your office and declares, "I have a terrific issue for you! In over sixty separate surveys, it consistently polls favorably with voters at two-thirds or better regardless of questioning. It’s never loses an election and, in fact, almost always wins bigger than the Reagan landslide of 1984 (59%/41% Reagan/Mondale). A sizable percentage even base how they vote on it." Picturing your bright political future, you eagerly ask, "What IS this issue?" Your aide replies, "medical marijuana." A silence so quiet settles in your office that you can hear dust rustle in the corner.

The sad fact is that this scenario has likely been repeated in thousands of political offices through out the United States over the past six years. Recently, the legal battle for the right to use cannabis medicinally has shifted from the very successful initiative process to the legislative process. Progress is still slow.

This report illustrates the groundswell of support for the medical use of cannabis, popularly known as marijuana. The report will overview the findings of sixty-six separate public opinion polls on the subject, review many of the questions asked in them, ascertain respondents’ demographics and party affiliation, define the political implications, and illustrate why this issue is so important in the public mind. The public has spoken on the issue of medicinal cannabis. This is what it says.

Aggregate Totals

The aggregate favorable percentage for the medical uses of marijuana across all polls equals 68% with 25% opposed and 7% "other." Essentially, these polls consistently show that over two thirds of the public supports the medical use of marijuana, while only one quarter opposes it.

In 1998, The Harvard School of Public Health conducted a similar analysis that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (#11). The study reviewed the results of 47 surveys taken between 1978 and 1997 and arrived at a similar conclusion: more than 60% of the public supports the "legalized use of marijuana for medical purposes."

In addition, the 1999 National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base, agreed that

"Public support for patient access to marijuana for medical use appears substantial; public opinion polls taken during 1997 and 1998 generally reported 60-70 percent of respondents in favor of allowing medical uses of marijuana."

Number And Type Of Respondents

The most common respondents are "adults" and "voters/registered voters," meaning that the polling firm sought to question only these kinds of individuals. Physicians form the respondent base in two studies: one from May 2001 at the Rhode Island Hospital (#45) and one on Medscape (#48) in August of 2001. The former poll found that 50% of physicians thought marijuana should be available by prescription to those who need it. Only 25% were opposed with another 25% unsure. Conversely, 81% of physicians in the latter poll favored the "decriminalization of marijuana for medical purposes" with only 19% opposed.

Types of Studies

Geography and timing

Not surprisingly, the prevalence of polls follows legislative or initiative activity. For example, in 1998 when five states (Alaska, Arizona, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington) passed medical marijuana ballot initiatives, studies were fielded in four of them (Alaska, Arizona, Oregon, and Nevada) the month before the election. Similarly, ballot initiatives in Colorado, Maine, and Nevada were all preceded by public opinion polls that predicted their success.

The passage of Hawaii’s medical marijuana bill in June 2000 was likely the result of a February 2000 poll (#31) reporting that 77% of respondents favored such legislation.

Since September 11, 2001

Other state polls reflect much higher favorable ratings for medicinal cannabis. The highest percentage belongs to a survey by Chamberlain Research Consultants for Is My Medicine Legal Yet (IMMLY) (#54) of Wisconsin in which 80% voiced support for passage of a medical marijuana law by the Wisconsin legislature. Similarly, 77% of Nevada voters (#63) say they support the state’s recently implemented medical marijuana initiative. It was approved twice by voters, once in 1998 (59%/41%) and again in 2000 (65%/35%).

2002 may represent a banner year for medical marijuana polling. By the end of March, sixteen separate polls have been conducted on this issue, including the Ten Sate Poll (#56-65) of voters in ten Western states and polls in Connecticut (#55), Maryland (#52), New Hampshire (#66), New Mexico (#51), Vermont (#53), and Wisconsin (#54). Consequently, with favorable percentages equaling almost three-quarters of respondents, bills have been introduced in the Maryland, Vermont, and Connecticut legislatures.

Polling Sponsors and Research Firms

Research firms who have conducted multiple studies include the Lucas Organization (13, all for the Marijuana Policy Project); Survey USA (5, all for KUSA Denver); Fairbank, Maslin, Maulin & Associates (3); Mason Dixon Research (3); Princeton Research Associates (2); and Zogby International (2).