Pennsylvania Support For Medical Marijuana Reaches Record High, Poll Shows

A record number of Pennsylvania voters, 84 percent, favor legalizing medical marijuana for adults if a doctor recommends it, according to a Franklin & Marshall College poll released Wednesday.

Twelve percent of the 502 registered voters surveyed opposed legalizing medical marijuana, an 8-point drop from 2006.

A smaller portion of respondents, 35 percent, supported legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes, while 57 percent opposed it.

The record-breaking support for medical marijuana, which marks a 3-point increase from a January F&M poll, comes after a unanimous vote by a Pennsylvania Senate committee Friday to legalize the use of marijuana for patients with certain medical conditions.

State Sen. Michael Folmer (R), one of the co-sponsors of the bill, attributed the growing support for medical marijuana to the advocacy efforts of parents with epileptic children, whose symptoms have shown to be alleviated with cannabis-derived treatments.

After a full Senate vote, the bill will go to the House, where most Republican leaders oppose the proposal.

Gov. Tom Corbett (R) has also stated that he will veto any marijuana legislation that goes beyond his recent proposal to create a limited pilot program allowing qualified children with severe seizures to access medical marijuana at research hospitals in Pittsburgh and Hershey.

The Franklin & Marshall College survey was conducted June 23-29 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.