Misapprehension may contribute to restraints of legislators on medical cannabis issue

Despite overwhelming public support for legal medical use of cannabis most politicians remain sceptical to translate the demand of voters into legislation. A new telephone poll conducted by Zogby in Vermont and Rhode Island, released March 29, sheds some light on this mystery. The poll asked 502 randomly selected Vermont and 501 Rhode Island citizens if they support legal access to medical marijuana for seriously ill patients, which resulted in 71 percent yes in Vermont and 69 percent yes in Rhode Island and is accordance with other state and national poll results consistently showing support levels ranging from 60 to 80 percent.

The new poll added a question that has not often been asked: "Regardless of your own opinion, do you think the majority of people in [Vermont or Rhode Island] support making marijuana medically available, or do you think the majority opposes making marijuana medically available?" In Vermont 38 percent thought the majority supports legal access, while 37 percent thought the majority opposes it and 25 percent was not sure. The correspondent figures for Rhode Island were 26 percent (majority in support), 56 percent (majority against) and 18 percent (not sure).

Citizens supported the medical use of marijuana by a clear margin, yet they think they are in the minority. There is reason to believe that legislators are under the same misapprehension and think that supporting the medical use of cannabis is a radical move, while most voters would welcome this move.
(Sources: MPP press release of 29 March 2004, AlterNet of 1 April 2004)