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Strong majorities of Kentuckians favor legalizing medical marijuana and industrial hemp – and nearly 40 percent support decriminalizing recreational marijuana use, according to the latest Courier-Journal Bluegrass Poll.
Medical marijuana and hemp, both of which are now illegal in Kentucky, are the subject of current legislative bills, but with markedly different chances of passing.
Agriculture Commissioner James Comer's bill to regulate industrial hemp already has passed the Senate and is set for a hearing this week in a House committee, while a medical marijuana bill hasn't gotten a hearing.
"I hope the governor and Kentucky's state House members get the message loud and clear: Kentuckians want jobs and they believe industrial hemp will bring them to Kentucky," Comer said in response to the poll results.
No legislator has proposed outright legalization, although Colorado and Washington have recently passed such legislation.
Nearly two-thirds of Kentuckians – 65 percent – favor legalizing industrial hemp, compared to 22 percent opposed and 13 percent unsure. The poll had a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.
Every demographic group supported legalizing hemp, including 53 percent of conservatives and 54 percent of seniors.
Support was strongest in the Louisville area, where 72 percent favored industrial hemp.
A bill to regulate hemp production for industrial use – should the federal government allow it – is one of the most hotly debated bills in the ongoing legislative session. Hemp looks like marijuana and typically contains less than 0.3 percent THC – the active ingredient in marijuana.
Marijuana's THC content is between 3 percent and 15 percent. But both are classified the same under federal drug policy.
Supporters say Kentucky could reap thousands of jobs growing and processing hemp if the state is among the first in the nation to allow the crop. If Senate Bill 50 passes, Kentucky would become the ninth state to remove barriers to the production of hemp, according to Vote Hemp, a national group seeking to legalize the crop.
Hemp-related jobs might reduce crime by giving people something productive to do, said Germantown poll respondent Noreen Jones, 63. "We need to get more people out to work," she said.
Gov. Steve Beshear, the Kentucky State Police and House Democratic leaders have expressed concerns about the crop's economic viability and whether growing it would make marijuana eradication more difficult.
"We have a tremendous drug problem in Kentucky, and I want to make sure that we don't do anything that will increase that drug problem," Beshear said in a statement reacting to the poll results.
The bill is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday before the House Agriculture and Small Business Committee, where it could be revised or replaced with a mandate to study the issue.
House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said Comer's bill is "unnecessary" and that the poll results don't change his views.
Medical marijuana supported
On legalizing medical marijuana, 60 percent of Kentuckians support prescription use. Conservatives opposed the idea 48 percent to 44 percent.
Sen. Perry Clark, D-Louisville, has filed Senate Bill 11 to allow physicians to prescribe marijuana to relieve pain and nausea associated with treatment of cancer and HIV/AIDS. The bill, which he filed previously, didn't get a hearing last year and won't this year either, according to Senate Judiciary Chairman Whitney Westerfield, R-Hopkinsville.
"I have personally seen the death and destruction that comes from the use of illegal drugs and have no inclination to hear this bill," Westerfield said in a statement Friday.
Clark did not return a call for comment Friday, but at a rally of supporters earlier this month in Frankfort he called medical marijuana "compassionate, sound medicine." Clark won re-election last year after announcing that he has smoked marijuana on the recommendation of a doctor.
"I fully believe, as (was) demonstrated by my last election that the people are ahead of the politicians where it comes to cannabis policy," he said at the rally.
Jennifer Post, a 51-year-old Bon Air resident said she believes medical marijuana is appropriate, for example, for people being treated for cancer.
"If that's going to give them relief, I say, 'yes,'" Post said, "because there are a lot of drugs that we take that are derived from plants and things like that. ... I don't see a problem with it."
Post favored legalization on all three questions, saying she believes hemp would help farmers who used to grow tobacco and would be profitable. She also said she believes marijuana arrests clog up the courts, and "to me, it's no worse than alcohol."
Recreational use falls short
The poll found that Kentuckians' support for hemp and medical marijuana does not extend to an outright legalization of marijuana for adults, which Colorado and Washington voters approved last year.
The poll found 49 percent of Kentuckains opposed to legalization, compared with 39 percent for it and 13 percent unsure, with a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
Wanda Page, 71-year-old resident of northern Bullitt County, said she opposes all legalization ideas related to hemp and marijuana.
"I think one thing leads to another," she said. "And if they do the hemp, it will just lead to the medical and I think that'll lead to more use of marijuana, and I'm against any kind of drug use of that type."
Demographic groups where recreational legalization received majority support included adults under 35, independents and self-described liberals. Seniors, Republicans and conservatives were most opposed.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: courier-journal.com
Author: Gregory A. Hall
Medical marijuana and hemp, both of which are now illegal in Kentucky, are the subject of current legislative bills, but with markedly different chances of passing.
Agriculture Commissioner James Comer's bill to regulate industrial hemp already has passed the Senate and is set for a hearing this week in a House committee, while a medical marijuana bill hasn't gotten a hearing.
"I hope the governor and Kentucky's state House members get the message loud and clear: Kentuckians want jobs and they believe industrial hemp will bring them to Kentucky," Comer said in response to the poll results.
No legislator has proposed outright legalization, although Colorado and Washington have recently passed such legislation.
Nearly two-thirds of Kentuckians – 65 percent – favor legalizing industrial hemp, compared to 22 percent opposed and 13 percent unsure. The poll had a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.
Every demographic group supported legalizing hemp, including 53 percent of conservatives and 54 percent of seniors.
Support was strongest in the Louisville area, where 72 percent favored industrial hemp.
A bill to regulate hemp production for industrial use – should the federal government allow it – is one of the most hotly debated bills in the ongoing legislative session. Hemp looks like marijuana and typically contains less than 0.3 percent THC – the active ingredient in marijuana.
Marijuana's THC content is between 3 percent and 15 percent. But both are classified the same under federal drug policy.
Supporters say Kentucky could reap thousands of jobs growing and processing hemp if the state is among the first in the nation to allow the crop. If Senate Bill 50 passes, Kentucky would become the ninth state to remove barriers to the production of hemp, according to Vote Hemp, a national group seeking to legalize the crop.
Hemp-related jobs might reduce crime by giving people something productive to do, said Germantown poll respondent Noreen Jones, 63. "We need to get more people out to work," she said.
Gov. Steve Beshear, the Kentucky State Police and House Democratic leaders have expressed concerns about the crop's economic viability and whether growing it would make marijuana eradication more difficult.
"We have a tremendous drug problem in Kentucky, and I want to make sure that we don't do anything that will increase that drug problem," Beshear said in a statement reacting to the poll results.
The bill is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday before the House Agriculture and Small Business Committee, where it could be revised or replaced with a mandate to study the issue.
House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said Comer's bill is "unnecessary" and that the poll results don't change his views.
Medical marijuana supported
On legalizing medical marijuana, 60 percent of Kentuckians support prescription use. Conservatives opposed the idea 48 percent to 44 percent.
Sen. Perry Clark, D-Louisville, has filed Senate Bill 11 to allow physicians to prescribe marijuana to relieve pain and nausea associated with treatment of cancer and HIV/AIDS. The bill, which he filed previously, didn't get a hearing last year and won't this year either, according to Senate Judiciary Chairman Whitney Westerfield, R-Hopkinsville.
"I have personally seen the death and destruction that comes from the use of illegal drugs and have no inclination to hear this bill," Westerfield said in a statement Friday.
Clark did not return a call for comment Friday, but at a rally of supporters earlier this month in Frankfort he called medical marijuana "compassionate, sound medicine." Clark won re-election last year after announcing that he has smoked marijuana on the recommendation of a doctor.
"I fully believe, as (was) demonstrated by my last election that the people are ahead of the politicians where it comes to cannabis policy," he said at the rally.
Jennifer Post, a 51-year-old Bon Air resident said she believes medical marijuana is appropriate, for example, for people being treated for cancer.
"If that's going to give them relief, I say, 'yes,'" Post said, "because there are a lot of drugs that we take that are derived from plants and things like that. ... I don't see a problem with it."
Post favored legalization on all three questions, saying she believes hemp would help farmers who used to grow tobacco and would be profitable. She also said she believes marijuana arrests clog up the courts, and "to me, it's no worse than alcohol."
Recreational use falls short
The poll found that Kentuckians' support for hemp and medical marijuana does not extend to an outright legalization of marijuana for adults, which Colorado and Washington voters approved last year.
The poll found 49 percent of Kentuckains opposed to legalization, compared with 39 percent for it and 13 percent unsure, with a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
Wanda Page, 71-year-old resident of northern Bullitt County, said she opposes all legalization ideas related to hemp and marijuana.
"I think one thing leads to another," she said. "And if they do the hemp, it will just lead to the medical and I think that'll lead to more use of marijuana, and I'm against any kind of drug use of that type."
Demographic groups where recreational legalization received majority support included adults under 35, independents and self-described liberals. Seniors, Republicans and conservatives were most opposed.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: courier-journal.com
Author: Gregory A. Hall
