More than 90 per cent of Australians believe marijuana should be legalised for medicinal use, according to a survey by one of the country’s leading research firms.
The landslide result, from a telephone survey conducted last weekend by Roy Morgan Research, crossed genders, age groups, locations and political allegiances.
Asked “should the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes by made legal or remain illegal?” a staggering 92 per cent of women and 90 per cent of men responded with an unequivocal “yes, it should be made legal”.
The strongest support for the proposed legislation came from the over 50 age group. Ninety four per cent of Australian aged 50-64 and 94 per cent of those aged 64 and above support the new laws.
Those most opposed to the laws are the youngest Australians but even in the 14 to 24 year age bracket an overwhelming 85 per cent still supported the legislation.
Western Australia showed the greatest support of the states at 97 per cent in favour, followed by NSW and Victoria at 92 per cent and 89 per cent in South Australia and Queensland.
While 97 per cent of Greens voters support the laws, so do 94 per cent of ALP voters and 92 per cent of Nationals/Liberal voters.
“The results indicate an overwhelming support for legalising the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes,” says Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine. “This bodes extremely well for the Federal Government’s plan to legalise the growing of cannabis for medicinal purposes.
“Part of the Federal Government’s plan is to allow each state’s government to decide whether they will allow the drug to be grown. Our results show that a vast majority of residents in each state are in favour of legalisation: this will be of particular interest to Western Australia’s Premier, Colin Barnett (not one of the movement’s most vocal supporters), whose state has the strongest support (97%).
“Unlike some social issues, legalising medicinal marijuana is widely favoured by electors of different political persuasions and age groups, which really tells us its time has come.
“Not surprisingly, Australians aged 50+ are the strongest supporters, as this group is most susceptible to several of the conditions that medicinal marijuana can provide relief from: Parkinson’s disease, cancer, glaucoma and more. (Obviously, as the government develops the overall framework for medicinal marijuana use, the specifics regarding who qualifies for this kind of treatment will have to be determined.)
“It should also be noted that only one third of the population believes that the smoking of marijuana should be made legal. This demonstrates that Australians understand that smoking and consuming marijuana for medicinal purposes are two very separate issues.”
