The majority of Ohio voters don't partake, according to a recent poll, but they still want their medical marijuana. (Jupiter Images)

Poll: Most Ohio voters don’t partake, but they still want medical pot

Ohio voters want their medical marijuana — and a by quite a large margin, according to a recent poll by Quinnipiac University.

The results are definitive on the issue of adults using medical marijuana if prescribed by a doctor: 87 percent were in favor. Not as one-sided were Ohio residents’ feelings about recreational weed, though they still supported it: 51 percent supported (while 44 percent were against) adults legally possessing small amounts of marijuana for personal use.

The Ohio poll’s results reflect a changing America. Four major national polls in the last year all showed for the first time in U.S. history that public opinion has swayed to the pro-legalization side of the controversial argument.


Related: Where does your state stand on marijuana? See for yourself in our state-by-state marijuana map


Also very interesting about the Ohio poll: 55 percent of those polled said they’ve never tried marijuana; 44 percent said they had.

“Ohioans narrowly favor legalizing pot for personal use, with women opposed while men support the idea,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Almost nine in 10 in both genders think marijuana should be legal for medical uses. No one should be surprised that support for legalization is strongest among younger voters.”

And how do Ohio folk feel about pot’s impact on Colorado’s national image? While 45 percent said it’s affected the state’s image negatively, 37 percent said marijuana has been a positive for Colorado’s image — and 18 percent were undecided.


Related: Marijuana legalization efforts lost one of its biggest benefactors in November 2013 when Ohio billionaire/philanthropist (and chairman of Progressive Insurance) Peter B. Lewis died


Another recent Quinnipiac poll showed that 51 percent of Coloradans felt legalization had been bad for the state’s image — but 58 percent of those polled said they still support legalization in the state.