Marijuana

(Republican file photo)

Massachusetts likely voters are in favor of legalizing marijuana for people 21 and older, with 55 percent saying "yes" to Question 4, according to a new poll from WBUR/MassINC Polling Group.



Forty percent said they would vote "no" if the election on the November statewide ballot measure was held today. Five percent said they didn't know how they'd vote or they were undecided.



Question 4 seeks to set up a regulatory structure for the taxation of commercial marijuana, under a proposed Cannabis Control Commission, a framework that proponents say will drive down the black market. Opponents have been urging voters to reject the measure, saying marijuana is a potent gateway drug to harder substances.



The MassINC Polling Group conducted the poll for WBUR on Oct. 13 through Oct. 16, using both landlines and cell phones for live interviews. The poll of 502 likely Massachusetts voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.



The latest WBUR poll showed a shift for the "Yes on 4" side, since a previous poll, conducted Sept. 7 to Sept. 10, had the "yes" side with 50 percent in support and 45 percent opposed to the question.



The poll also showed that likely voters were okay with people using marijuana at home, which the ballot question legalizes. Asked whether they'd be bothered by people using marijuana inside their home, 84 percent said they would not be, while 14 percent said yes they would be.



Marijuana use in public would bug a majority of poll respondents. Sixty-four percent said they would be bothered by marijuana use in public, while 33 percent said they wouldn't be bothered.



A store selling commercial marijuana in their community would not bother 59 percent of poll respondents. Thirty percent said they would be bothered.



But when poll respondents were asked about marijuana businesses advertising in public places in their community, the margins weren't as lopsided: 51 percent said they would be bothered by it, and 48 percent said they wouldn't be.



Poll respondents were also asked whether they have tried marijuana. Forty-nine percent said yes, 49 percent said no.



The battle over marijuana legalization is expected to intensify ahead of Election Day on Nov. 8.



Both camps went up with new television ads this week, with the "Yes on 4" camp featuring a doctor voicing support for the measure. In its first ad, the "No on 4" presented a suburban mother grappling with a proliferation of pot shops in her neighborhood and her son walking out with paper bag that had a bong sticking out of it.



Massachusetts voters voted to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana in 2008. In 2012, they voted to legalize marijuana for medical use. State officials were slow to implement the medical marijuana measure, and nearly five years later, seven dispensaries are open across the Bay State.