Two recent polls are at odds over the likelihood of success for a Florida initiative to legalize recreational marijuana, with one survey indicating the measure will pass in November and the other suggesting it will not garner enough votes for approval. If passed in this fall’s general election, Amendment 3 would legalize cannabis for adults aged 21 and older and set the stage for regulated sales of recreational pot.
On Tuesday, a Suffolk University/USA TODAY/WSVN-TV poll showed that Amendment 3 would pass with 63% of the vote, significantly higher than the three-fifths majority required for success under Florida law. The level of support is consistent with other recent polls that showed the marijuana legalization measure would receive more than 60% of the vote.
A recent poll shows Amendment 3, a constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana in Florida, has … [+] enough support to pass, while a separate survey suggests the ballot measure will not be approved in November.
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The survey asked 500 likely voters the question “should recreational marijuana be legalized?” Among those surveyed, 63% said “yes” while a third (33%) said “no.” David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, noted that marijuana legalization is supported by a majority of voters across the political spectrum. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of Democrats, 69% of independent voters and 51% of Republicans said that marijuana should be legalized, as did a majority of respondents in each age group.
“The marijuana question has wide support across all demographics,” Paleologos said, according to a WSVN report on the poll.
The poll was conducted between August 7 and August 11 and has margin of error of 4.4 points, according to a report from online cannabis news source Marijuana Moment.
Separate Poll Suggests Amendment 3 Will Fall Short
Another recent survey, however, paints a different picture of Amendment 3’s likelihood for success at the polls in November. A Florida Atlantic University poll released on Wednesday showed that 56% of respondents planned to vote in favor of Amendment 3, a figure that is shy of the 60% of votes needed to pass. The poll also found that 29% opposed the marijuana legalization initiative and 15% said that they did not how they would vote on the measure.
Amendment 3 had the strongest support among Democrats, with 80% saying they would vote in favor of the marijuana legalization amendment. Among independents, 59% said they would vote for the measure and 15% said they would vote against it. Republicans were evenly split on Amendment 3 with 35% approving the measure and 35% saying they were opposed to the ballot initiative.
“If they’re going to hit that 60%, the supporters of the amendment are probably going to have to reach a few more Republicans or have a particularly Democratic-leaning electorate, which sees a challenge in a presidential election year,” said Kevin Wagner, a Florida Atlantic University political scientist, according to a report from the South Florida SunSentinal.
Amendment 3 saw its strongest support among younger voters, with more than two-thirds (69%) of voters younger than 50 saying they are in favor of the ballot measure, while only 20% said they were opposed. Among voters aged 50 and older, 47% said they would vote to legalize marijuana while 36% said they would vote “no” on Amendment 3. The initiative had equal support by gender, with 56% of men and 56% of women saying they approved of legalizing cannabis.
The FAU survey interviewed 1,055 registered voters on August 10 and August 11. The poll has a reported margin of error of three percentage points.
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Publish date : 2024-08-15 08:11:00
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