From: [C upi] at [clari.net] (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.usa.gov.politics,clari.usa.gov.state+local,clari.news.alcohol+drugs
Subject: Poll: voters favor pot medicine
Keywords: US government, state government, politics, US election, legal,
        illegal drugs, health
Organization: Copyright 1996 by United Press International
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 1996 12:40:37 PDT
Location: California
                                         
        SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- A majority of Californians who are  
considered likely to vote in the Nov. 5 election favor Proposition 215, 
which would legalize the medical use of marijuana, the Field Poll showed 
Thursday. 
        Pollsters found 62 percent supported the measure after they were read  
its official ballot description, compared with 29 percent who opposed it 
and 9 percent who were undecided. 
        The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that its own survey found 53  
percent of the respondents in support of Proposition 215 compared with 
31 percent opposed and 16 percent undecided. 
        Proposition 215 would allow Californians to grow and smoke marijuana  
for such medical purposes as relief from chemotherapy-caused nausea if 
users have a physician's written or oral permission. 
        Proponents say the initiative is a humane effort to relieve the  
suffering of patients with cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis 
and other illnesses, and that non-medical uses of marijuana still would 
be illegal. 
        Opponents say it is a hoax by advocates for decriminalization of  
marijuana who support Proposition 215 as a first step toward that end, 
and that it would send a mixed message about drugs to youth. 
        The Times poll reached 1,059 registered voters over a four-day period  
that ended Tuesday. The margin of error for likely voters was plus or 
minus 5 percentage points. 
        The Field Poll interviewed 416 registered voters between Aug. 29 and  
Sept. 7. They included 291 likely voters in the November election, for 
whom the sampling error range was plus or minus 6 percentage points. 
        While both polls favored the initiative, Stu Mollrich of Citizens for  
a Drug-Free California observed that support for propositions tends to 
weaken as the election approaches and voters learn more about them. 
        Supporters include the California Academy of Family Physicians,  
California Nurses Association, Congress of California Seniors, Gray 
Panthers and California Attorneys for Criminal Justice.