According to a new Goucher College poll released this week, a majority of Marylanders want to see marijuana legalized on a recreational level and think the state is spending too little on public schools.
60% of Marylanders are in support of making the plant legal for recreational use found the poll. This is however a decrease of seven percentage points from when the poll asked the same question in March.
“Certainly when you see a drop by seven points, it’s something to keep your eye on,” remarked Mileah Kromer, director of the Sarah T. Hughes Center for Politics at Goucher College, who runs the Goucher Poll. “But right now, I would say the overall picture is that the legalization of recreational cannabis remains popular in the state.”
This year the state House Speaker Adrienne Jones has said she plants to put the question of whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use on the ballot in 2022.
On another note the poll also had a great amount of respondents in support of abortion access.
“But what you do see is a divide — around 44% of individuals say they want abortion to be legal under all circumstances, no restrictions,” Kromer said. “And another 44% say that they support abortion access, but they are supportive also of some restrictions.” The poll did not get into what those restrictions respondents want to see.
When asked about state spending, 54% of those polled said the state spends too little on public K through 12 education.
A plurality of Marylanders, 47%, say the state spends too little on housing and community development and too little on roads and highways.
The poll additionally found that Gov. Larry Hogan maintains a high approval rating of 68%.
“The fact that the majority of Marylanders think that the state is going in the right direction and the majority of Marylanders have a positive view of the Maryland economy, they are certainly going to then have a positive view on the job the governor is doing,” she said. “All three of these things are typically related.”
