Burnt Orange Report

Poll Shows Texans Support Medical Marijuana

By Byron LaMasters

Color me surprised:

A strong majority of Texans favor legalizing the medical use of marijuana, according to a new poll.

Seventy-five percent said people with cancer and other serious illnesses should be allowed to use marijuana for medical purposes as long as their doctor approves, according to a Scripps Howard Texas poll question commissioned by Texans for Medical Marijuana. Nineteen percent said they would oppose such a bill.

[...]

The telephone poll found Democrats were more supportive of medical marijuana than Republicans — 81 percent to 67 percent; and adults 18 to 29 favored it the most, at 81 percent, while those in their 40s favored it the least, at 70 percent. Seventy-two percent of those 60 and older favored it.

The marijuana question was part of the fall 2004 Texas Poll and was asked of 900 adult Texans by telephone Oct. 11-28. The margin of error is 3.3 percentage points.

Still, I doubt that the legislature will do anything on the topic. It doesn't surprise me that a majority of Texans support medical marijuana, but the size of margin is certainly a shock.