Not surprisingly, Democrats are more in favor of medicinal marijuana than Republicans, a fact that is born out in the Ten State Poll (#56-65), the Chamberlain Research/IMMLY survey (#54), and the Maryland Poll ((#52 & #44). In almost all areas and with respect to almost all questions, the spread between Republicans and Democrats is at least 10%, if not closer to 20%.

Surprisingly though, the Republican view of medical marijuana in all of these polls is favorable by 50% or more. In the Ten State Poll, Republican support for medical marijuana laws in the states that have them exceeds two-thirds. In states without such laws, Republican support for passing them equals almost 60%. However, Democrats favor such legislation by margins of 75% or better. Interestingly, Independent support for medical marijuana falls about 5% short of Democratic support, meaning that those who call themselves Democrats are slightly more apt to be in favor of medicinal cannabis than Independents, but much more likely to be in favor of it than Republicans.

Opposition to medical cannabis follows a similar trend with respect to the Republican/Democrat split. In the IMMLY poll (#54), only 13% of Democrats were opposed to the Wisconsin State Legislature passing a law to allow seriously ill patients to use marijuana, while 18% of Republicans took a similar stand.

History also reinforces the lag between Democratic and Republican support for medical cannabis. The CBS News Telephone Poll (#6) conducted nationwide in 1997 found that 64% of Democrats thought that doctors should be allowed to prescribe small amounts of marijuana for patients suffering from serious illness. Fifty-seven percent of Republicans agreed with this claim. However, unlike the Ten State Poll, this study found Independent support at 66% exceeding that for Democrats.