Will medical marijuana become legal in Utah next year? Early polling suggests wide support for a proposed medical cannabis ballot initiative.
A poll by the Salt Lake Tribune and Hinckley Institute of Politics found that 75 percent of Utah voters either strongly or somewhat support the initiative.
“That is a really high number,” said Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute.
“For the last couple of sessions, legislators have been saying to the people, ‘this is a very important policy decision, and we’ll let the science drive it.”
While Perry said that message has resonated with Utahns, they want to see something substantive.
As the proposal moves forward, he said people will be talking about what’s actually included in the initiative.
“I think Utahns are trying to consider what this means, and who can be helped by it, if anyone, and they’re comparing it against the potential negatives,” Perry said.
The Utah Patients Coalition, the group behind the proposal, is still gathering signatures. They need more than 113,000 of them to get on the ballot next year.
