Poll: Michigan backs legalizing recreational marijuana, easier voting
Poll shows strong support for legalizing recreational marijuana in Michigan, easier access to voting. Redistricting support softer.
Poll: Michigan backs legalizing recreational marijuana, easier voting Poll shows strong support for legalizing recreational marijuana in Michigan, easier access to voting. Redistricting support softer. Check out this story on Freep.com: https://on.freep.com/2QdkyU8
Kathleen Gray, Detroit Free Press Published 6:00 a.m. ET Sept. 28, 2018 | Updated 11:48 a.m. ET Sept. 28, 2018
A cannabis plant up close in an outdoor grow farm.(Photo: Getty Images)
If the election were held today, marijuana for recreational use would be legal in Michigan and voting would become much easier, according to a poll done for the Detroit Free Press.
But a proposal to change the way state and federal legislative district lines are drawn, while ahead 48-32 percent, hasn't reached a winning threshold yet, according to EPIC/MRA pollster Bernie Porn.
The proposal that would legalize marijuana for adult recreational use is leading 55-41 percent, in the poll of 600 active and likely voters that was taken Sept. 21-25 for the Free Press and its media partners. Only 3 percent of those surveyed are undecided on the issue.
And while the proposal has widespread support in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties and is winning by smaller margins in all but the northern portion of Michigan, the support for legalization has shrunk from the 61 percent support EPIC/MRA found in a statewide survey taken in March.
The difference? The March survey was merely a question on whether or not marijuana should be taxed and legalized for people at least 21 years of age. The current survey included the language that will be on the ballot, including allowing legalizing the use, possession, and sale of marijuana, allowing up to 12 plants to be grown for individual use and allowing the possession of up to 10 ounces of marijuana in a private residence as long as it's locked up.
"The marijuana question was a few points below where we had it at 61 percent and the difference is the ballot language," Porn said. "In the details of the ballot language, there are pieces that people may not like."
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Josh Hovey, the spokesman for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which is spearheading the marijuana legalization campaign, said he's not surprised that the proposal has lost some support as the election nears. That only means that the coalition has more work to do.
"We need to continue to work hard and dispel the misinformation and scare tactics that the opposition continues to put out there.," he said. "Prohibition doesn't work and we're wasting millions to continue to enforce this law and arrest and incarcerate people."
But Scott Greenlee, executive director of Healthy and Productive Michigan, which opposes legalization, said he's more confident in other recent polls that have shown a much closer race. One poll released last week by the MIRS News Service, had the issue losing 41-47 percent. A Detroit News poll released last week had legalization passing 56-38 percent.
"The more people understand about the dangers of marijuana, the more who will continue to move against this thing," he said.
The proposal would allow people to buy up to 2.5 ounces a day and possess up to 10 ounces in their home as long as it was properly locked up; grow up to 12 plants for personal use; have the state regulate the industry and subject the sale of marijuana to the state's 6 percent sales tax and an additional 10 percent tax; allow communities to determine whether marijuana business will be allowed in their towns; earmark the first $20 million of tax revenue from the sale of marijuana for at least two years to research into the benefits of marijuana to treat PTSD and split the rest between roads, schools and the communities that allow marijuana businesses.
State voters approved medical marijuana in 2008 and the Legislature approved regulating and taxing that industry in 2016.
The proposal gained strong support among Democrats and Independents and every age group except for people over the age of 65. The youngest age group — 18-34 — supports the measure 85-14 percent.
"It has a much better chance of passing if the younger folks turn out and indeed the numbers of people participating under age 35 seems to be getting strong," Porn said.
Neither side has invested any money in television advertising yet, but that may change before the November election, Hovey and Greenlee said. Neither side had much money to spend, according to the last campaign finance reports filed in July. The next reports aren't due until Oct. 21.
The anti-gerrymandering proposal
The Voters Not Politiciansquestion, designated as Proposal 2 on the ballot, is up in the poll 48-32 percent, with 20 percent undecided. The proposal would have the Secretary of State oversee the appointment of a 13-member bipartisan commission (four Republicans, four Democrats and five independents) to draw legislative and congressional district lines. The lines are now drawn by the political party that is in the majority in the Legislature, which critics say leads to gerrymandered districts meant to benefit one party over the other.
The proposal got significant support from both Democrats and Independents, but was losing by 33-44 percent among Republicans. It also got support from most areas of the state, except for the Bay region in northeast Michigan and in the northern portion of the state.
"The redistricting proposal is close to majority support and it has more support than many of the previous polls, but it's not at that magic percentage that it's likely to pass yet," Porn said. "The theme of voters selecting the districts rather than politicians has legs, but they need to do some advertising."
Katie Fahey, the executive director of the anti-gerrymandering campaign, said as volunteers explain the proposal to people, the yes votes escalate.
"As we get close to Nov. 6, we will be stepping up our efforts to inform voters using every possible channel to let them know that Proposal 2 will put more power in their hands, making politicians more accountable to us and not special interests," she said in a statement.
Voting in Lincoln Park, Mich. (Photo: J. Kyle Keener, Detroit Free Press)
Making it easier to vote
The Promote the Vote question, which will be Proposal 3 on the ballot, would allow for voter registration up to the day of the election, allow people to get absentee ballots for no reason and allow straight-ticket voting. It got the most support in the poll with 70 perecent of those surveyed saying they'll vote for the proposal, 25 percent opposed and 6 percent undecided.
"It seems to be on the side of the angels," Porn said. "The ballot language itself sells Proposal 3."
Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal.
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