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Delaware poll: Legalize marijuana

The News Journal
9:05 a.m. EDT October 17, 2014


Want legal weed in Delaware?

You're easily in the majority, according to a new University of Delaware poll that finds 56 percent of Delawareans support legalization of marijuana use.

The university polled 902 Delaware adults between Sept. 10 and 22, finding just 39 percent opposed to legalization. Delawareans older than 60 and self-identified conservatives were the only groups to express deep opposition, while young adults and liberals drove the support.

Support for legalization crossed racial and geographic boundaries, with poll respondents in all three counties saying they back legal marijuana.

"I would say the numbers suggest solid support for fully legalizing marijuana in Delaware," said Paul Brewer, the political communications professor at the University of Delaware who supervised the poll. "The results also reflect what's going on in public opinion at the national level, where the trends show a growing majority favoring legalization."

Only Colorado and Washington state have legalized marijuana, regulating and taxing sales. Sixteen other states and the District of Columbia have replaced criminal penalties with fines for those found in possession of small amounts of marijuana, a step known as decriminalization.

Voters in several other states will consider ballot measures next month to loosen marijuana laws.

Of course, public support does not always accurately predict political support. Gov. Jack Markell remains opposed to full legalization of the drug, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.

"Since last year, the governor and his office have been talking with legislators and others about decriminalizing the possession of a small amount of marijuana and replacing criminal penalties with civil fines," said Kelly Bachman, Markell's spokeswoman.

"While the governor would not support full legalization at this time without further studies and evidence of its consequences, he expects to have more conversations about reducing the criminal penalties on small amounts of marijuana in the months to come."

The poll does show a breakdown along generational and ideological lines.

Opposition to legal marijuana was most pronounced among Delawareans aged 60 or older. Just 36.9 percent of respondents in that age group favored legalization, while 68 percent younger than 30 supported the move.

Among respondents who identified as conservative, just 39.2 percent favored legalization. Among liberals, 73 percent said they think marijuana should be legal.

Across the rest of the poll, support is significant. Majorities of minorities and white Delawareans support legalization. Voters in all three counties support making the drug legal, though the margin is slim in Sussex County, Delaware's most conservative county.

In Sussex, 48 percent of respondents said they would support legalization, while 47.3 percent said they oppose the move.

"The poll just shows there is broad support for this," said Delaware Sen. Bryan Townsend, a Newark Democrat who favors legalization of marijuana. "I hope this is a wake-up call to the General Assembly that a majority of Delawareans support us moving in this direction."

Directing criminal justice resources to combat marijuana is a distraction to addressing more problematic drug crimes and substance abuse.

"I think we should be focusing on addiction," Townsend said. "We should be focused on crime. We should be focused on community safety. Marijuana does not really seem to relate closely to any of those things."

Legislation introduced earlier this year by state Rep. Helene Keeley, a Wilmington Democrat, would have allowed Delawareans to legally possess up to an ounce of marijuana for personal use, without regulating and taxing sales of the drug.

Facing political opposition, that bill was scrapped.

A House committee later passed separate legislation from Keeley that would have replaced criminal penalties with $250 civil fines for anyone 21 or older in Delaware found in possession of an ounce or less of marijuana.

Current Delaware law prosecutes simple marijuana possession as a misdemeanor, punishable by fines of up to $1,150 and up to six months in jail.

In 2013, Delaware police made 2,632 arrests for petty marijuana possession, charged as an unclassified misdemeanor, including 298 charges involving juveniles, according to the Delaware Criminal Justice Council's Statistical Analysis Center.

Keeley, who faces an opponent in November, said Thursday that if re-elected she intends to introduce a decriminalization bill when the General Assembly returns in January.

"The governor has said that he would not sign a legalization bill at this time," Keeley said. "I would still like to continue the dialogue. Even just decriminalization is a step in the right direction."

Lt. Gov. Matt Denn, the frontrunner to become Delaware's next attorney general is also in the camp opposed to legalization.

Denn said while he supports removing criminal penalties for possession, he can't get behind promoting use of the drug.

"I don't want our scarce criminal justice system resources being used to prosecute people for possession of small quantities of marijuana, but I do want my 9-year-old boys to understand that it is bad for them and they shouldn't use it," Denn said by email on Thursday.

Todd Kitchen, a marijuana user and legalization activist, said he is not surprised by broad support for legalization of the drug, despite the smaller steps being taken politically.

Kitchen helped push for the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes in 2011.

A 2005 car accident left Kitchen with traumatic brain injury, anxiety and severe back pain caused by a form of arthritis that he uses marijuana to soothe.

The state's first medical marijuana dispensary is scheduled to open early next year outside of Wilmington.

"A lot of people have been trying to change the attitude toward it and get out correct information to re-inform the public," said Kitchen, who says marijuana has a calming effect and leads to less violent behavior than alcohol.

The poll results, Kitchen said, shows "people are listening. They realize it's not as bad as they thought it was."

Contact Jonathan Starkey at 983-6756, on Twitter @jwstarkey or at [e-mail].

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2014/10/16/delaware-poll-legalize-marijuana/17385917/