Another new poll shows Amendment 2, a proposal to expand medical marijuana use in Florida, continues to come up short of the 60 percent needed to pass on the November ballot. Earlier in the week, two polls were released which showed Amendment 2 in serious jeopardy as opposition to it rises.
WFLA/Survey USA released a poll on Tuesday which shows Amendment 2 is stalled, with 52 percent of those surveyed supporting it and 36 percent opposing it. The remaining 12 percent are undecided. A WFLA/Survey USA poll taken last week found 51 percent supporting it while 33 percent opposed it.
The new poll shows no gender gap on the issue as 53 percent of men and 52 percent of women back Amendment 2. But there is a major age gap on the issue with 72 percent of voters 34 and younger backing Amendment 2 while a majority -- 54 percent -- of voters 65 and older oppose it. Only 17 percent of voters under 35 oppose Amendment 2 while less than a third -- 31 percent -- of seniors support it.
There is also something of a racial gap on the issue. The poll shows Hispanics generally support Amendment 2, with 61 percent of Cuban-Americans and 58 percent of other Hispanic groups backing it. A majority of white Floridians -- 53 percent -- support the amendment while 36 percent oppose it. But the poll shows a major divide with African-Americans as 41 percent of them favor Amendment 2 while 37 percent oppose it.
In terms of political breakdown, Democrats and voters outside the major parties support the proposal. A strong majority of Democrats -- 63 percent -- say they plan to vote for Amendment 2 while less than a quarter of them -- 24 percent -- plan to vote against it. Voters outside the major parties break for the amendment 57 percent to 33 percent. But almost half -- 49 percent -- of Republicans oppose the proposal and only 39 percent of them plan to vote for Amendment 2.
The amendment runs strongest in Southeast Florida, where 60 percent of voters plan to back it and only 28 percent say they are opposed to it. Northeast Florida also stands behind Amendment 2, with 52 percent of voters there saying they support it while 23 percent oppose it. But the measure is barely above water in Southwest Florida where 47 percent back it and 43 percent oppose it. The amendment is also losing steam in Northwest Florida where 49 percent support it and 43 percent oppose it, a sharp drop from the last poll. In Central Florida, voters remain divided, with 48 percent supporting Amendment 2 and 40 percent opposing it.
The WFLA/Survey USA poll of 566 likely voters was taken from Oct. 10-13 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.2 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
