Release #2455 Release Date: Tuesday, December 10, 2013 REVERSAL OF ATTITUDES TOWARD MARIJUANA. MAJORITY NOW FAVOR USE AND DECRIMINALIZATION.

Transcription

1 THE FIELD POLL THE INDEPENDENT AND NON-PARTISAN SURVEY OF PUBLIC OPINION ESTABLISHED IN 1947 AS THE CALIFORNIA POLL BY MERVIN FIELD Field Research Corporation 601 California Street, Suite 900 San Francisco, CA (415) FAX: (415) Release #2455 Release Date: Tuesday, December 10, 2013 REVERSAL OF ATTITUDES TOWARD MARIJUANA. MAJORITY NOW FAVOR USE AND DECRIMINALIZATION. By Mark DiCamillo and Mervin Field IMPORTANT: Contract for this service is subject to revocation if publication or broadcast takes place before release date or if contents are divulged to persons outside of subscriber staff prior to release time. (ISSN ) Legalizing the sale of marijuana has long been a contentious issue in California. But over the recent decades public opinion has moved from a resolute anti-marijuana position to one of general acceptance. A 1969 Field Poll found that 75% of Californians wanted either strict enforcement of marijuana laws against its use or passing even tougher laws, while only 13% favored its legalization. However, the latest Field Poll completed last week graphically illustrates the huge reversal of public sentiment toward marijuana since that time. At present, just 31% favor strict enforcement of existing laws or passing tougher sanctions, while 55% favor legalization. Today's survey also finds a 56% majority favoring the adoption of a proposed statewide initiative to decriminalize the use and cultivation of marijuana in California. Trend of California voter opinion about state marijuana laws For the first time since 1969 when The Field Poll began tracking Californians attitudes toward marijuana laws, a clear majority (55%) favors its legalization. This subdivides between 8% who believe it should be legalized so it can be purchased by anyone and 47% who support legalizing it with age and other controls like those for alcohol. Table 1 presents the trend in California voter sentiments toward state marijuana laws. Field Research Corporation is an Equal Opportunity Employer

2 Tuesday, December 10, 2013 Page 2 Table 1 California voter opinions about marijuana laws (among registered voters) December * Which best fits your views about marijuana laws Legalize it so it can be purchased by anyone 8% 4% 2% 3% Legalize it with age and other controls, like those for alcohol Keep present ban, but make penalties less severe Strictly enforce current laws Pass tougher laws No opinion * 1969 survey conducted among all California adults. Voter sentiment toward proposed marijuana legalization ballot initiative A marijuana advocacy group, California Cannabis Hemp Initiative 2014, has been cleared by the state Attorney General to gather signatures to qualify a statewide initiative to legalize marijuana for next year s November general election ballot. The group has until February 24, 2014 to collect just over 500,000 valid signatures from registered voters to qualify it for the ballot. Last November voters in Washington and Colorado became the first states to approve initiatives legalizing its recreational and medicinal use. The proposed California initiative is more expansive. It would legalize all uses for hemp and cannabis, the plant from which marijuana is derived. The initiative would prohibit marijuana use for anyone under the age of 21 and also set a standard for intoxication similar to those for alcohol. When read a summary of the initiative s official ballot description, 56% say they are inclined to vote yes, while 39% would vote no. Just 5% have no opinion. Table 2 Voter preferences on proposed Marijuana Legalization initiative (among registered voters) Would vote Yes 56% No 39 Undecided 5

3 Tuesday, December 10, 2013 Page 3 Preferences across voter subgroups There are big differences in voter preferences toward the proposed initiative across subgroups of the registered voter population. The strongest levels of support for the proposed initiative come from voters registered as Democrats or no party preference, liberals, voters under age 50, singles, white non-hispanics, voters living in the state s coastal counties and especially those living in the San Francisco Bay Area, and college graduates. Opposition to the initiative exceeds support among four major voting blocs: Republicans, conservatives, Latinos, and voters with no more than a high school education. In addition, seniors age 65 or older and voters in the state s inland counties are about evenly divided on the issue.

4 Tuesday, December 10, 2013 Page 4 Table 3 Voter preferences on proposed Marijuana Legalization initiative by subgroups of the registered voter population Yes No Undecided Total registered voters 56% 39 5 Party registration Democrats 65% 30 5 Republicans 39% 58 3 No party preference/other 62% 32 6 Political ideology Strongly conservative 27% 68 5 Moderately conservative 40% 57 3 Middle-of-the-road 59% 35 6 Moderately liberal 71% 27 2 Strongly liberal 84% 13 3 Gender Male 58% 38 4 Female 55% 39 6 Age % % % or older 47% 47 6 Race/ethnicity White non-hispanic 60% 35 5 Latino 46% 51 3 Black/Asian/other 55% 37 8 Area Coastal counties 60% 35 5 Inland counties 47% 47 6 Region Los Angeles County 55% 41 4 Other Southern California 51% 44 5 Central Valley 50% 45 5 San Francisco Bay Area 70% 23 7 Other Northern California* 60% 36 4 Education High school graduate or less 39% 58 3 Some college/trade school 53% 41 6 College graduate 64% 31 5 Post-graduate work 65% 31 4 Marital status Married 52% 45 3 Single/never married 70% 26 4 Divorced/separated/widowed 55% 38 7 Parent of child under 18 Yes 53% 44 3 No 58% 37 5 * Small sample base. 30

5 Tuesday, December 10, 2013 Page 5 Methodological Details Information About the Survey The findings in this report are based on a Field Poll survey completed November 14-December 5, 2013 among 1,002 registered voters in California. In order to cover a broad range of issues and still minimize possible voter fatigue, some of the questions in this report were asked of a random subsample of 465 registered voters statewide. Interviewing was conducted by telephone using live interviewers working from Field Research Corporation s central location telephone interviewing facilities in San Diego. Up to six attempts were made to reach, screen and interview each randomly selected voter from the state's registered voter rolls on different days and times of day during the interviewing period. Interviewing was completed on either a voter s landline phone or a cell phone depending on the source of the telephone listing from the voter file. After the completion of interviewing, the overall registered voter sample was weighted to demographic, geographic and party registration characteristics of the state's registered voter population. Sampling error estimates applicable to the results of any probability-based survey depend on sample size as well as the percentage distribution being examined. The maximum sampling error for results from the overall sample is +/- 3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, while findings from the random subsample have a sampling error of +/- 4.5 percentage points. The maximum sampling error is based on results in the middle of the sampling distribution (i.e., percentages at or near 50%). Percentages at either end of the distribution (those closer to 10% or 90%) have a smaller margin of error. There are other potential sources of error in surveys besides sampling error. However, the overall design and execution of the survey sought to minimize these other possible sources of error. The Field Poll was established in 1947 as The California Poll by Mervin Field, who is still an active advisor. The Poll has operated continuously since then as an independent, non-partisan survey of California public opinion. The Poll receives annual funding from media subscribers of The Field Poll, from several California foundations, and the University of California and California State University systems, who receive the data files from each Field Poll survey shortly after its completion for teaching and secondary research purposes. Questions Asked Which of the following statements best fits what you personally feel should be done about marijuana laws? (SEE RELEASE FOR FIVE CATEGORIES READ) A new statewide ballot initiative calls for decriminalizing the possession, use and cultivation of marijuana in California. It also would require a case-by-case review of all persons charged with or convicted of nonviolent marijuana offenses for possible sentence modification or release. Fiscal impact: Reduced costs in the low hundreds of millions of dollars annually to state and local governments. Potential net additional tax revenues in the low hundreds of millions of dollars annually related to the production and sale of marijuana. If the election were being held today and you were voting on this marijuana legalization initiative, would you vote YES or NO? Note: Approximately half of the voters interviewed were read a summary of the initiative s official description with its fiscal impact statement, while the other half were read a summary without the fiscal impact statement.