Iowa Poll: Majority support medical marijuana, death penalty, banning traffic cameras

Copyright Des Moines Register & Tribune Co. 2018

A majority of Iowans is still against legalizing recreational marijuana, although opposition has declined and there is broad support for legalizing medical marijuana, according to a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll.

The grab-bag of Iowa Poll questions also shows that most Iowans continue to support legislative proposals to ban automated traffic enforcement cameras. In addition, they still back the death penalty for certain crimes, and they agree with state lawmakers' decision last year to legalize fireworks, although public enthusiasm diminished somewhat.

MORE: Traffic camera ban again a hot Legislature topic

The survey found 58 percent against legalizing recreational pot, down from 69 percent in 2014. The poll also found 39 percent favor legalizing recreational marijuana, up from 28 percent four years ago.

The new poll, conducted by Selzer and Co. of Des Moines, questioned 801 Iowa adults Jan. 28-31 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Younger Iowans are far more accepting of recreational marijuana, with 57 percent of those under age 35 in favor of it, while 78 percent those over the age of 65 oppose it.

In addition, 69 percent of Iowans who do not identify with a religious group favor legalizing recreational marijuana, while 66 percent of Protestants and Catholics are opposed.

Nationally, voters in eight states have passed initiatives to legalize recreational marijuana. However, lawmakers in the Republican-controlled Iowa House and Senate have shown little interest in allowing the sale and use of recreational pot. There is also zero encouragement from Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican who had a one-word response last year ("No") when asked if she supported recreational marijuana.

But Iowans are much more accepting of medical marijuana, with 78 percent in support and 19 percent opposed, the new survey shows. That figure is similar to the previous two years of polling on the issue.

Poll respondent Curt Stensland, 63, a lifelong farmer from Larchwood near the Iowa-South Dakota border, said he favors medical marijuana but not the recreational variety. He has a 13-year-old grandson with a rare form of epilepsy who has been eligible to use an extract of marijuana to help obtain some relief.

"I have been a huge advocate for medical marijuana," said Stensland, who is a Democrat. "Let's let the doctor and the patients decide what drug is best for them, not some legislative body, when we have an innocuous drug like this. My grandson went through 10 seizure medications, and any one of them could have killed him. But he doesn't have that risk with medical marijuana."

Regarding recreational pot, Stensland remarks: "I am generally against that. I am for decriminalization of it, though. There is no reason we should be filling up jails and ruining their lives. But as far as legalization like other states, I just don't think we need that."

Iowa's new medical marijuana program, which is in the process of being implemented, will strictly limit what kinds of marijuana-derived products may be made and sold. The law bars products that could be smoked or eaten. It also will not allow products with more than 3 percent of THC, the chemical that makes recreational marijuana users high.

Iowa’s previous medical-marijuana law only allowed possession of a marijuana-derived oil for use by people with severe forms of epilepsy. The new law also allows possession of approved marijuana products by patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, cancer, multiple sclerosis, seizures, AIDS or HIV, Crohn's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, as well as most terminal illnesses that involve untreatable pain and a life expectancy of less than one year.

Traffic cameras

The Iowa Legislature is weighing two conflicting proposals this session to either completely halt the use of automated traffic enforcement cameras or to allow them but with increased government oversight. The devices are used to nab speeders and motorists running red lights.

The new Iowa Poll shows 54 percent of adults surveyed want to get rid of automated traffic enforcement cameras, while 40 percent support them. A similar poll in February 2012 showed that 51 percent favored banning the devices when used to catch speeders, while 47 percent supported using the equipment.

As of January, there were eight cities in Iowa operating a total of 78 speeding and red light automated traffic enforcement devices.

"I think they should be banned," said poll respondent Kyle Webb, 33, of Urbandale, an independent who works in marketing and public relations. "Call me old-fashioned, but I am a firm believer in the right to face your accuser, and it is really hard to face an automated machine. I just don't agree with having them posted at places that are speed traps designed to catch people speeding or running red lights or what have you."

He said he has not been ticketed by one of the machines.

Death penalty

Differing bills have been introduced in the Iowa House and Senate to reinstate the death penalty in Iowa, which was outlawed in Iowa in 1965. The state's last execution was in 1963, when a federal inmate convicted of kidnapping and killing a Dubuque doctor was hanged at the Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison. The House bill has already been declared dead this session, but the Senate version advanced out of a subcommittee Monday.

However, the Iowa Poll shows continued strong support for capital punishment, with 58 percent in favor and 36 percent opposed. The death penalty is especially supported by Republicans, with 72 percent in favor. In contrast, Democratic support is less than half, at 43 percent, while independents are 58 percent in favor.

"If they are going to do something wrong and kill somebody, they might as well get killed themselves,” said poll respondent Stacy DeWine, 45, a Republican who owns the Good Times bar in Lowden. “An eye for an eye, that’s how I look at it.”

Overall, the latest survey compares with 65 percent of Iowans in favor of the death penalty in February 2013, 66 percent in January 2006 and 59 percent in December 2001.

Fireworks

The Iowa Legislature lifted a longstanding ban on fireworks last year by authorizing their sale statewide, although the use of fireworks can still be prohibited or restricted by local governments. The sale of fireworks is allowed during summer and winter sales periods coinciding with the Fourth of July and New Year's Day.

Although there were many complaints from Iowans that the new law made some neighborhoods sound like combat zones around Independence Day, the latest Iowa Poll found only 39 percent want to repeal the fireworks law and 53 percent would oppose a repeal. A related Iowa Poll question in February 2017 found 65 percent favored legalizing fireworks and 29 percent opposed.

Poll respondent Darrin Schmidt, 51, of Holstein, a Republican and owner of Holstein Manufacturing, which makes large mobile grills and other products, supports keeping fireworks legal.

"if you can buy them in all the states around us, why not participate in fireworks?" Schmidt asked. However, he said he doesn't have a problem with cities placing restrictions on fireworks.

About the poll

The Iowa Poll, conducted January 28-31 for The Des Moines Register and Mediacom by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, is based on telephone interviews with 801 Iowans ages 18 or older. Interviewers with Quantel Research contacted households with randomly selected landline and cell phone numbers supplied by Survey Sampling International. Interviews were administered in English. Responses were adjusted by age and sex to reflect the general population based on recent census data.

Questions based on the sample of 801 Iowa adults have a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. This means that if this survey were repeated using the same questions and the same methodology, 19 times out of 20, the findings would not vary from the true population value by more than plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Results based on smaller samples of respondents—such as by gender or age—have a larger margin of error.

Republishing the copyright Iowa Poll without credit to The Des Moines Register and Mediacom is prohibited.