A new Local 4-Detroit News poll has found that 56.6 percent of Michigan voters support legalizing cannabis for adult use, with 36.7 percent opposed and 6.7 percent undecided.
Support was split across party lines, with 71.5 percent of “strong” Democrats supporting the measure, along with 67 percent of those who “lean” Democrat, and 51.1 percent of Independents. Among “strong” Republicans, 43.5 percent supported the reforms, along with 44.7 percent who “lean” Republican.
Respondents indicating they had smoked cannabis at some point in their life were also split – 47.5 percent indicating they had used cannabis at some point, compared to 48.8 percent who claimed they had never tried it. Among those that have tried cannabis, the legalization measure was supported 72.7 percent to 22.8 percent; and for those that had never used cannabis, the majority was opposed – 51.5 percent to 40.6 percent.
Last November, the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol submitted more than 365,000 signatures to state officials for their bid to put the legalization question to the voters. According to a Jan. 18 Facebook post, the organization indicated that the validation process of the petition has been delayed due to the Elections Bureau giving “extra scrutiny” to another ballot petition. The advocates expect the bureau to take up their petition “sometime in February.”