Republican voters in Louisiana districts where Donald Trump received more votes than President Biden overwhelmingly support the legalization of adult-use cannabis, according to polling data from JMC Analytics and Polling summarized by Exbulletin.
In the nine Republican-controlled districts surveyed, the vast majority of respondents supported legalizing cannabis for adult use. In districts 52, 53, 70, 78, 84, and 94, more than three-quarters agreed with legalizing cannabis and only eight percent were opposed to the policy. House Districts 28 and 47 also saw high support numbers, with over 64 percent saying they approve of legalization while only seven percent responded negatively.
Additionally, over half of those surveyed said they would be more likely to vote for candidates who wanted to reform cannabis laws, and “most” were opposed to making the possession of adult-use cannabis into a criminal offense, according to the report.
State Rep. Candace N. Newell (D), who has previously introduced a cannabis decriminalization bill in Louisiana’s House, said most of the opposition to legalization comes from law enforcement.
“The belief is that this would lead to increased crime and deaths on the road, but legalizing marijuana does not legalize impaired driving. It would still be illegal to drive under the influence of alcohol or marijuana.” — Newell, via Exbulletin
Last week, the Louisiana House sent a bill allowing for “smokable” medical cannabis to the Senate, one day after also advancing a bill to decriminalize cannabis and another to tax cannabis if/when adult-use cannabis passes the legislature.
Loyola law professor Mitch Crusto told WWL-TV that Louisiana is the only “deep South” state that has proposed fully legalizing adult-use cannabis. He said although the bill does not address expunging past cannabis crimes, it will serve as competition to cartels and criminals, and would make Louisiana safer.
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