New Washington Post poll shows D.C. residents overwhelmingly support marijuana legalization

January 17, 2014

By Josh Altic

Washington D.C.: On January 15, the Washington Post published a poll showing that support for legalization of small amounts of recreational marijuana has leaped upward by 37% in the last four years. The poll, conducted over the telephone, asked 1,003 Washington D.C. residents if they support or oppose legalization. 63% of those polled responded in support while only 34% indicated they would choose to keep marijuana illegal. This compares to a similar poll taken in January of 2010 that showed 46% supporting legalization and 48% opposed to it.

This increase in support bodes well for an initiative measure that will likely be on the November 4, 2014 election ballot in the District of Columbia. This measure, the "Legalization of Marijuana for Personal Use Act of 2014," is backed by the committee D.C. Cannabis Campaign (DCMJ 2014) and seeks to allow possession and use of up to two ounces of marijuana and the possession and cultivation of up to 3 marijuana plants in the nation's capital. Proponents must collect 23,000 signatures to put the legalization act on the ballot.

Adam Eidinger, co-owner of Capital Hemp and member of DCMJ 2014, said, "I imagine the President rolling up a tobacco-marijuana cigarette with John Boehner and sitting on the back porch of the White House to work out their problems." Eidinger will be relieved about the new poll results, as he had previously expressed concern that a competing decriminalization bill proposed by city council member Tommy Wells could take support away from the legalization initiative, saying, "I won't do it if it's under 60 percent, you can mark my words. If we're at 59 percent in our next poll of D.C. voters for legalization, if we're losing support for legalization because of Wells' efforts, then we won't do it."

Washington D.C. Marijuana Legalization 2014
Poll	Support	Oppose	Other	Margin of error	Sample size
Washington Post poll on pot legalization 01/12/2014	63%	34%	3%	+/-4	1,003
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.