Pubdate: Wed, 13 Mar 2002
Source: Janesville Gazette (WI)
Copyright: 2002 Bliss Communications, Inc
Contact: http://www.gazetteextra.com/lettereditor.html
Website: http://www.gazetteextra.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1356

POLL: 80 PERCENT OF WISCONSIN RESIDENTS FAVOR MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA

MADISON, Wis. - Eighty percent of Wisconsin residents support
legalizing the use of marijuana for medical use, according to a survey
released Tuesday.

The poll was commissioned by Is My Medicine Legal Yet?, a group that
supports the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The polling was done by the Chamberlain Research Consultants. It
randomly selected 600 people aged 18 and over in all 72 Wisconsin
counties in its telephone poll. The poll was conducted Jan. 28-Feb.
7.

The margin of error was plus or minus 3.97 percent.

Respondents were asked if they would support or oppose the Legislature
passing a bill that allows the terminally or serious ill to use
marijuana for medical purposes.

The poll found that 80.3 percent of respondents said they supported
passing such a bill, while 16 percent said no and 3.7 percent were
undecided.

Reps. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, and Frank Boyle, D-Superior, introduced a
bill in January that would allow the use of marijuana for medical
purposes. The bill was referred to the Criminal Justice Committee but
has not come up for a vote.

Similar bills introduced in past legislative sessions have failed to
pass.

The poll found a majority of respondents in all regions of Wisconsin
supported the use of medical marijuana, though support was highest in
Dane County, where 91.7 percent of respondents said yes.

The lowest percentage of support was in the northwest, where 70.7
percent said they supported legalizing the medical use of marijuana.

The bill is AB 715.
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MAP posted-by: Derek