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Friday, 10 October 2014
Survey: Most thing medical marijuana will lead to legalization of recreational use
Elizabeth Behrman,
KDVR
TAMPA -- Recent survey
results show that Floridians seemed to have been paying attention when
residents in Colorado and Washington voted to approve the medicinal and,
later, the recreational use of marijuana.
Sixty-six percent of those who responded to the annual Sunshine State Survey,
conducted by the University of South Florida, said they believe that
passing a constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana would
soon lead to voters' approval of all marijuana use.
"Some
people are happy that it might lead to legalization and some are
opposed to it," said Susan MacManus, a USF political scientist and the survey's director. "But people are aware of the potential first-step nature of the medical marijuana amendment, if it passes."
The fifth of six portions of the annual survey was released Tuesday, and included the sections that focused on health, race relations, the upcoming elections and transportation.
Most
of the people surveyed who said they think medical marijuana will lead
to the legalization of recreational marijuana were between the ages of
18 and 34, according to the data. Seventy-three percent of them are
employed full-time and about 75 percent of them live in the Miami and
Palm Beach media markets. Twenty-nine
percent of the people who took the survey said they didn't think
legalizing medical marijuana would lead to the acceptance of
recreational marijuana. Five percent of responders said they weren't
sure or refused to answer.
Of the people who answered no, 52 percent were employed part-time and 43 percent lived in the Naples-area media market, the data shows.
MacManus
said she doesn't know why two-thirds of the people surveyed feel that
way about legalizing medical marijuana. It could be that they know that
was the series of events
in Washington and Colorado, MacManus said. The rise of pill mills
across the state could also have led them to believe that recreational
use will grow out of the medicinal.
"We don't know why they think
like they do," MacManus said. "We didn't ask that question. All we know
is that these people are more inclined to think that it will lead to
that next step."
What she found most interesting about this year's
Sunshine State Survey results was that 55 percent of the responders -- a
7 percent increase over last year -- said they feel like they don't get
enough information about constitutional amendments before they vote on
them, MacManus said. This year there will be three amendments on the
ballot, including Amendment 2, which would legalize medical marijuana.
Groups
and individuals that oppose passing Amendment 2 have long argued that
legalizing medical marijuana would lead to more use of pot overall.
Calvina Fay, executive director of the Drug Free
America Foundation in St. Petersburg, said in a statement Tuesday
afternoon that Amendment 2 is a "defacto legalization" of all marijuana.
"If
Amendment 2 were to pass, we have no doubt that it would be widely
abused to allow pretty much anyone to use it," she said.
"We also have
no doubt that the drug legalization advocates would be right back
pushing the envelope for full blown legalization just as they have done
in other states that have fallen for the scam of legalizing pot under
the guise of medicine."
But Ben Pollara, executive director of United for Care Campaign and a supporter of legalized medical
marijuana, said he thinks the survey results would be more informative
if the responders were asked more specific questions about the issue in
addition to that one.
"It's interesting," he said. "But it's not terribly relevant."
And
the fact that mostly young people think it would lead to the
legalization of recreational marijuana may show some "wishful thinking"
on their part, Pollara said.
"I don't think there's really much you can read from it," he said.
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