Majority Backs Medical Marijuana, But Not for Recreational Use: Poll

A slight majority of New York voters support the legalization of medical marijuana, although just one in five respondents wants to legalize the drug for recreational use, according to a new poll from City & State Reports, an affiliate of City & State magazine. 

The poll, which was conducted between April 30 and May 6, found that 52 percent of registered voters would back the legalization of marijuana for medical reasons. Relatively few voters would go beyond that, however; just 19 percent of respondents said that lawmakers should allow the use of recreational marijuana.

Support for medical marijuana was the highest among upstate voters, at 56 percent, while 52 percent of New York City voters and just 41 percent of suburban voters were in favor of the change. 70 percent of Democrats were strongly in favor of legalization for medical reasons, while just a quarter of Republicans expressed support. Independents were split right down the middle on the legalization of medical marijuana at 50 percent.

The subset with the highest support for recreational use of marijuana by political affiliation was independent voters, at just 23 percent, and regionally, New York City voters, at 20 percent.

Respondents were presented with several potential policy changes at the state level and were asked which, if any, they would support legalizing in the state. The poll also found that 22 percent of voters want to legalize hydrofracking, 14 percent support the legalization of online gambling and 8 percent would allow prostitution. 20 percent of respondents said they did not want to legalize any of the options.

Hydrofracking had the strongest base of support among Republicans (32 percent) and upstate voters (26 percent).

The City & State Reports poll, which was conducted by Gotham Research Group, was based on a telephone survey of 602 randomly selected registered voters across the state. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percent.