The poll comes as lawmakers are drafting legislation to regulate the burgeoning industry, a response to legal developments that have left local governments and medical marijuana dispensaries seeking clarity.

However, Attorney General John Suthers, a Republican who has opposed medical marijuana as violating federal law, made little of the poll results.

"It's easy to say in a vacuum that voters support the type of medical marijuana distribution system that the dispensary owners advocate, but the devil is in the details," Suthers said. "Once the voters understand the full extent that the current system is being abused to allow healthy young people to procure marijuana, they will be much less likely to support it."

The telephone poll of 500 likely Colorado voters asked just one question regarding medical marijuana.

In the survey, which had a margin of error of 4.38 percent, respondents were first told there were "some proposals that voters might be voting on in the election next November."

Then they were presented with a three-part proposal that included establishing state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries, allowing communities to limit the number of dispensaries and subject them to zoning, and requiring patients to register with the state while setting limits on the amount of marijuana they can buy.

Finally, they were asked if they would vote yes or no on the proposal.

In fact, medical marijuana advocates said, there is no effort to place any ballot measure before voters in 2010, and the question was merely an attempt to gauge public sentiment around the issue.

Still, 64 percent of respondents said "yes" to the proposal, with 34 percent saying they would be a "strong yes."

Snipped

Complete Article: http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_13897915

Source: Denver Post (CO)

Author: Tim Hoover, The Denver Post

Published: December 1, 2009

Copyright: 2009 The Denver Post Corp

Website: http://www.denverpost.com/

Contact: openforum@denverpost.com

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