Floridians continue to throw their weight behind medical marijuana, with a new poll showing nearly 90 percent of voters are in favor of using the drug for medical purposes.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday morning found 88 percent of Floridians support allowing adults to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if a doctor prescribes it. Only 10 percent were opposed.
Medical marijuana didnt just gather support in one age group, either -- support was over 80 percent in all ages surveyed, showing medical use of the drug is widely supported among all Floridians.
Eighty-four percent of Floridians aged 65 or older said they would support medical marijuana.
Democrats favored medical marijuana at a slightly higher percentage than Republicans, with 93 percent saying they favor of it. Eighty percent of Republicans said they felt the same way.
The poll also found more than half of voters -- 53 percent -- support allowing adults to legally possess small amounts of marijuana for personal use. Forty-two percent were opposed.
There was a stark age divide for recreational use of marijuana, however, with more men than women supporting it and more Floridians aged 18-29 supporting legalization. Nearly three-quarters of voters in this age group -- 72 percent -- said they would support recreational use of marijuana, while 24 percent were opposed.
If Vegas were giving odds on medical marijuana becoming legal in Florida, the bookieswould be betting heavily, said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll. With almost nine in 10 voters favoring legalization for medical purposes, and bills allowing such use advancing in the state Legislature, the odds seem pretty good Florida may join the states which already have done so.
Just last week, the Florida Legislature passed a bill to legalize a non-euphoric strain of marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes. The bill now heads to Gov. Rick Scott, who has already said hell sign it into law.
