Wyoming to regulate vehicle transportation of medical marijuana

Marijuana plants growing under lights.

(File | MLive.com)

LANSING, MI -- A new poll shows voter support for marijuana reform, giving legalization advocates high hopes for change in Michigan law.

A Michigan senator, meanwhile, says legal marijuana has no hope of passing in the Legislature as legalization supporters work to bring the issue before voters in 2018.

EPIC-MRA (Educational, Political, Industrial, Consumer Market Research Analysis) of Lansing conducted the poll by phone in January and February of 2017.

It shows 57 percent of the 600 people surveyed said they would definitely vote yes, probably vote yes, or lean toward voting yes on a ballot question about legalizing marijuana in Michigan with certain conditions, according to an EPIC-MRA news release.

The results are up four points compared to a similar poll in March 2016, EPIC-MRA said.

MI Legalize 2018, the group pushing for marijuana legalization in Michigan, heralds the latest results.

MI Legalize Chair Jeff Hank speaks during a rally at the State Capitol building in Lansing on Friday, May 20, 2016. The campaign gathered together for one last push for petition signatures to put the legalization of marijuana on the ballot in November.

"We commend Michigan NORML (The Michigan chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) for commissioning the poll question," attorney Jeff Hank, leader of MI Legalize 2018 said. "The continuity of this poll lends credibility to the results and establishes this as a reliable gauge of public sentiment."

In 2016, MI Legalize turned in 354,000 signatures for the ballot issue -- more than the total needed to qualify for the November ballot -- but state rules making signatures older than 180 days void blocked it from being added to the ballot.

MI Legalize disagrees with the interpretation of the law that kept the issue off the ballot, and sued the state before the 2016 election in an unsuccessful bid to bring the issue to voters.

Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, said he supports medical marijuana after spending time studying the issue. But, as a former police officer, he doesn't support legalizing recreational marijuana.

He said legalizing pot, a "social drug," could lead to more accidents on Michigan roads and other problems.

"The marijuana that we have today is much stronger than the marijuana many people grew up with in the '60s and the '70s," Jones said. "This more powerful. It's dangerous, it causes more bad health effects."

Senator Rick Jones

He said a lot of people have tried to convince him that taxing sales of legal marijuana would bring in a lot of money to the state, but he believes the negatives would outweigh the positives.

"Also, it will only increase unemployment because most employers don't want to hire people that use marijuana," Jones said.

Legalization of marijuana has "no hope" of making it through the Legislature, Jones said, meaning a ballot question would be the only path to becoming law.

"They keep running these polls hoping to persuade people to pay for a ballot initiative," he said. "If they gather the signatures and put it on the ballot, so be it."

Rick Thompson, a member of the board of directors of both MINORML and MI Legalize, calls the 4 percent increase a spike and said it "has to be credited in part to the work of MI Legalize and the extensive public relations associated with the campaign."

Here is the question respondents were asked in the recent 2017 survey, and the results:

"On another topic, voters may circulate petitions to place a proposal on a future election ballot relating to the issue of marijuana. The proposal would make the possession and cultivation of limited amounts marijuana legal in the State of Michigan for adults age 21 or older. Also, it would allow the sale of marijuana to adults age 21 or older only by stores that would be licensed by the state, and finally, it would tax the sale of marijuana by these state licensed stores. If this proposal were to appear on a future election ballot, if the election were held today, would you vote yes to approve of the proposal, or would you vote no to oppose it?

[IF VOTING YES/NO, ASK: "Would you definitely vote (yes/no), or probably vote (yes/no)?" AND CODE BEST RESPONSE]

[IF UNDECIDED, ASK: "Well, if the election were held today and you had to decide right now, would you lean toward voting yes to approve of the proposed law or no to oppose it?" AND CODE BEST RESPONSE]

41 percent - Definitely vote yes

12 percent - Probably vote yes

4 percent - Lean toward voting yes

57 percent - TOTAL VOTE YES

40 percent - TOTAL VOTE NO

30 percent - Definitely vote no

8 percent - Probably vote no

2 percent - Lean toward voting no

3 percent Undecided/Refused

The poll has a 4 percent error rate, EPIC-MRA said.

EPIC-MRA said voters surveyed in every region of Michigan supported the proposal, ranging from a 50 to 46 percent majority in Northern Michigan to a 62 to 35 percent majority in the "outer metro" area.

Democrats (74 percent), especially Democratic women (75 percent), were more supportive than voters with other partisan affiliations, with Independent women supportive by a 50 to 43 percent majority and Independent men supportive by a 50 to 48 percent majority. Republican men opposed the proposal by a 50 to 48 percent majority, while Republican women were more opposed (61 to 36 percent), EPIC-MRA said.

Younger voters age 18-34 were most supportive (78 percent), followed by voters age 35 to 49 (61 percent), with voters age 50 to 64 supportive by 56 percent, and voters age 65 and over most opposed (by 55 percent).

The 2017 poll results show increased support for marijuana legalization compared to similar recent polls, EPIC-MRA said.

In March of 2016, 53 percent of people surveyed would vote "yes" on a ballot proposal to legalize and tax marijuana, with 45 percent voting "no" and 2 percent undecided, EPIC-MRA said.

In December of 2014, a 50 percent of people surveyed said they would vote "yes" on a question with similar wording, with 46 percent opposed.

"Clearly, support for the legalization and taxation of marijuana continues to increase over time, and if enough valid petition signatures are collected to require the proposal to be placed on the ballot in 2018, younger voters would likely be very motivated to participate in the election to offer their strong support for the proposal," EPIC-MRA said in a news release about the latest poll.

A petition drive for a marijuana legalization on the 2018 ballot is in the works, MI Legalize reports.