Support for Ohio’s Recreational Marijuana ballot issue crosses party, demographic groups, poll shows
More than 57% of Ohio registered voters favor a November ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in the state, while only about 35% oppose it, a new survey shows.
The poll, released Wednesday by Baldwin Wallace University, found that Issue 2 had majority support among nearly every demographic group measured, including political party, gender, age, race, religion and education level.
Dr. Tom Sutton, a Baldwin Wallace political science professor who directs the university’s Community Research Institute, which conducted the poll, said the survey’s findings indicate that Issue 2 is “almost certain” to pass.
Issue 2, if passed by voters next month, would enact a state law allowing adults 21 years and older in Ohio to grow, use, possess, and transport legally obtained marijuana within a number of limits. The measure is backed by marijuana business interests, including many involved in the state’s current medical marijuana program, as well as some local Democratic parties and pro-legalization activists.
In all, 57.4% of the 569 Ohio registered voters tallied in the Baldwin Wallace poll said they support Issue 2, while 35.1% oppose it. The remaining 7.5% said they are undecided. The survey, conducted between Oct. 9-11, has a margin of error of 4.5%.
Two-thirds of Democrats surveyed back the measure, as well as 50.4% of Republicans and 58.6% of independents. More than 71% of voters between the ages of 18 and 49 support Issue 2; voters age 50 or older also support it, but by the much narrower margin of 46.8% in support and 45% opposed.
More than 59% of men surveyed support Issue 2, as do 55.4 % of women. Three-quarters of Black voters indicated support for the proposal, as did 54.9% of white voters and 63.6% of survey participants of another race or ethnicity.
While Issue 2 opponents argue the proposal would raise the prospects for drug abuse among children and teens, more than 70% of poll participants who are parents back the proposed initiated statute; about 52% of non-parents also support it.
Issue 2 is even favored among demographics that historically have been resistant to marijuana legalization. That includes evangelical Christian registered voters, 46.9% of whom support it and 46.3% oppose it. More than 53% of registered voters in rural areas also support it.
The only demographic included in the poll that opposes Issue 2 are voters who identified as conservative, who oppose it by a narrow majority of 50.1%. More than 43% of conservatives said they support the measure.
Issue 2 is also supported by:
- 54.% of registered voters with at least a four-year college degree
- 59.2% of voters without a four-year degree
- 59.5% of gun owners polled
- 55.3% of registered voters who do not own a gun
- 64.6% of registered voters in urban areas
- 57.3% of suburban registered voters
Sutton said he was very surprised by how much support there was for Issue 2 across different demographic groups in Ohio.
“It’s maybe a sign of the long-term effects (of people) seeking an antidote and polarization of our country,” Sutton said. “We all need to chill a little bit, and maybe this will make that happen.”
