Poll boosts push for medical use of marijuana

COLUMBUS (AP) — Supporters of the use of marijuana for medical purposes in Ohio are headed back to the Statehouse armed with two new pieces of ammunition: recent legalization in neighboring Michigan and poll results showing a majority of Ohioans would favor the same in their state.

Ed Orlett, Ohio representative for the Drug Policy Alliance, said Monday that even he was surprised when last week’s Ohio Poll out of the University of Cincinnati showed such strong support for legalizing medical marijuana.

“It adds legitimacy to it here in Ohio,” Orlett said. “Politicians usually tell us, ‘If I do this, I’m going to get killed politically.’ Well, apparently not, if you look at this.”

The poll found 73 percent of residents favor allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana for medical reasons, including majorities in every demographic group from age, race and religion to political party. The survey was taken by phone from April 16-27 and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

For the Drug Policy Alliance, which fights for relaxed regulations nationwide, the poll brings new momentum after a series of political defeats in the state.

In 2002, for example, voters roundly rejected a ballot proposal that would have given nonviolent first- and second-time drug offenders a constitutional right to drug treatment over jail. The issue went down 67 percent to 33 percent.

A bill legalizing medical cannabis, meanwhile, died in committee last session after little debate. Its sponsor, Dayton-area Democrat Tom Roberts, has since left the Senate, but Orlett said he now plans to approach other senators about backing a similar proposal this session.

In testimony last year, Richard Wyderski, a doctor and professor at Wright State University’s Department of Medicine, said marijuana has been found to improve appetite and weight in cancer and Alzheimer’s patients and decrease spasms in multiple sclerosis and spinal injury patients. He said it’s being studied for possible benefits for epilepsy and brain injuries.

But the drug also has adverse effects: It increases some people’s risk of panic or anxiety attacks, carries a risk to the lungs and is unproven in its benefits in any number of medical areas, Wyderski said.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy’s 2008 Marijuana Source Book reported that marijuana accounted for 40 percent of drug arrests nationally — but only 2.5 percent of inmates in state prisons across the nation are there for marijuana-only offenses.

The report disputes the notion that marijuana can be legalized for medical use without creeping into the rest of the population. It cites federal statistics that show eight of the 10 states with the highest percentage of residents who used marijuana within the past month also were states with medical marijuana programs. Five of the 10 states with the highest percentage of new youth marijuana users also had medical marijuana programs in place.