Legalize marijuana? A majority of Kentuckians now say yes – and for any use, poll shows

More Kentucky residents are in favor of legalizing marijuana than in the past, a new poll shows.

Their opinions differ when it comes to how marijuana is used, but 9 in 10 who responded to a Kentucky Health Issues Poll supported medical marijuana legalization in 2019. That's up from not quite 8 in 10 in 2012.

More important, a solid majority of Kentuckians now supports the legalization of pot for any use, the poll shows. Support for legalizing cannabis for any use now is 59%, up nearly 20 points from seven years ago.

Legalizing the drug for recreational use got the lowest number of yes responses, but almost half agreed with that, the poll shows. In 2012, about a fourth of people were in favor, according to the previous health issues poll.

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Interact for health, the Norwood-based nonprofit for health issues, released the results Wednesday of the 2019 Kentucky Health Issues Poll that it sponsored with the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.

The poll comes when the legalization of marijuana is being debated across the United States and more states than ever have legalized it for some use.

The poll also looked at marijuana policy by political party affiliation, Interact reported, and found that the support for legalization was strong across all parties. "Democrats were more likely than Republicans or independents to favor legalization under any circumstances or for recreational purposes," said Jennifer Chubinski, Interact's vice president of research and evaluation, in a statement

The poll of 1,559 adults made by the University of Cincinnati's Institute for Policy Research has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

“The shift in public opinion around marijuana policy is notable from KHIP 2012 to KHIP 2019,” Chubinski said. “However, it’s important to note that the policy landscape around marijuana has shifted considerably during that timeframe as well.

"In 2012, 18 states and the District of Columbia had legalized medical marijuana, compared to 33 states and the District of Columbia today. Further, in 2012, the first policies to legalize recreational marijuana were passed in Colorado and Washington state. Today, recreational use is legal in 11 states and the District of Columbia.”

The Kentucky Legislature is considering a House bill this year that would legalize the use of medical marijuana.