Large SC majority supports legal medical marijuana, new poll shows
A new poll shows that an increasingly steady number of South Carolinians want to see medical marijuana legalized across the state.
Those in favor of recreational use are on the rise, too.
The latest Winthrop University Poll shows that 76% of South Carolinians support legalizing medical marijuana, while 56% back recreational use. Broken down by political party, 72% of Republicans and 80% of Democrats surveyed support medical marijuana legalization.
On recreational marijuana use, 45% Republicans and 62% of Democrats said they were in favor.
“We’ve asked this question on some previous polls, and what we’ve seen over the years is a steady increase in the acceptance of medical marijuana especially,” said Scott Huffman, Winthrop Poll director and political scientist.
“And, frankly, there’s been an increase in acceptance of the possibility of recreational marijuana, but that has just begun to tip over half the population,” Huffman said, adding there’s still a clear division on recreational marijuana between Democrats and Republicans, unlike that of medical cannabis.
Medical marijuana is legal in 38 states, three territories and the District of Columbia, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. That legalization effort started in California in 1996.
Since 2012, 21 states and Washington, D.C. also have legalized the use of marijuana for recreational purposes.
In recent years, medicinal marijuana has received bipartisan support in South Carolina, although state Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, continues to push his so-called Compassionate Care Act — a bill that would allow South Carolina doctors to prescribe patients medical marijuana to treat a range of health-related conditions.
That effort was opposed by law enforcement officials, who said they feared that legalizing medical marijuana would lead to more marijuana being available in the state for nonmedical uses.
Davis’ bill passed the Senate last year but died in the House on a procedural ruling, forcing the senator to file his bill again. However, this year, Davis has been unable to get his bill back out of the Senate, missing the Legislature’s “crossover” deadline.
Nevertheless, support for the measure among South Carolinians is holding steady.
In a 2022 Winthrop Poll, 78% of the S.C. population said they were in favor of medical marijuana, while 15% opposed.
That was way up from six years earlier in 2015, when 70% were in favor of medical marijuana and 22% opposed.
As for recreational use, in 2022, 54% of Winthrop Poll respondents said they were in favor, with 37% opposed — a reverse from 2016, when only 39% approved and 54% opposed.
The poll’s first marijuana-related question dates back to 2013, asking South Carolinians whether they supported smoking marijuana without regard to medical or nonmedical use. Then, just under 20% said that smoking marijuana is acceptable with 40% disapproving.
This year’s polling demographics mostly included Black and white men and women between the ages of 26-64.
The poll was conducted March 25 through April 1, and surveyed 1,657 respondents. The poll had a 4.45% margin of error.
“Medical marijuana isn’t something the majority of South Carolinians are clamoring for, but they have no opposition to it,” Huffman said.
