Ohio voters overwhelmingly approve of medicinal marijuana and narrowly support same-sex marriage, according to a poll released Monday.
A Quinnipiac University poll of Ohio voters found 87 percent support the use of medical marijuana while only 11 percent oppose. Ohio voters also narrowly approve of allowing adults to possess small amounts of the drug for personal use — 51 percent in favor, 44 percent opposed.
Two medical marijuana proposals are in the works, but it’s unclear whether either will collect the more-than 385,000 signatures of valid Ohio voters required to put the issue before voters in November.
Twenty states and Washington, D.C. allow for medical marijuana programs and Colorado and Washington voters gave the green light for legal recreational use in 2012. Ohio voters say Colorado’s legalization is bad for the state’s image, with 37 percent of those polled saying it helps the state.
Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said Ohioans’ views of marijuana are complicated.
“Twice as many voters think alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana, and about half the state’s voters think the two are equally harmful,” Brown said in a statement.
Support is strongest among voters age 18 to 29, who approve of personal marijuana use 72 percent to 25 percent, but boomers and Gen-Xers say they’ve tried marijuana at a higher rate than younger voters. More than half of Ohio voters — 55 percent — say they’ve never tried marijuana.
Most younger voters also support same-sex marriage, with 71 percent in favor of legalizing the unions and 28 percent opposed, while 59 percent of voters over age 65 oppose it.
Overall support for gay marriage hit 50 percent, with 44 percent opposed, a little greater than the last time Quinnipiac polled on the issue in April 2013.
Support is higher among Democrats (67 percent) than independents (53 percent) and Republicans (29 percent). Support is higher among women than men, with 55 percent of women in favor of same-sex marriage and 46 percent of men.
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