Medical Cannabis Sees Overwhelming Support in Key Swing States
Support for legalizing medical cannabis in the bellwether states of Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania is at or near 90%, according to a Quinnipiac poll released on October 8.
Support for legalizing medical cannabis in the bellwether states of Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania is at or near 90%, according to a Quinnipiac poll released on October 8. With 87% of Florida voters, and 90% of voters in Ohio and Pennsylvania approving of medical cannabis it is easy to see why most industry experts predict that both Florida and Pennsylvania will have medical cannabis laws on the books by the end of 2016 - indeed the Pennsylvania legislature may pass a bill before the end of this year.
Though support for medical cannabis is incredibly high in Ohio the state is not predicted to pass a medical cannabis law soon because the ballot initiatives projected for 2015 and 2016 are for fully regulated personal use for all adults over 21. The Quinnipiac poll also offered some numbers for each state regarding legalization of personal use.
Florida
Florida voters are narrowly in favor of legalizing personal use of cannabis at a rate of 51% in favor to 45% against. Men were more likely to be in favor (57%) than women (49%). It's unsurprising that the 18-34 age demographic showed the highest support (66%), though it is a bit surprising that the 50-64 age group showed higher support (55%) than the 35-49 range (52%). Voters 65 and over remain the only demographic still opposed to the legalization of the personal use of cannabis for adults at 56% against.
Ohio
Ohio voters support legalization of the personal use of cannabis at a rate of 53% in favor to 44% against. Men are more likely to support full legalization (59%) than women (47%). The age breakdowns, when compared to the 53% approval rate, reveal the greying of the state. 70% of the 18-34 age group in Ohio supports the full legalization of cannabis along with 59% of voters aged 35-49. Only 50% of voters aged 50-64 would vote for personal use, and again voters over the age of 65 are the only age group opposed to legalization with 64% against.
Pennsylvania
In Pennsylvania voters are still narrowly opposed to full legalization with 49% of voters against and only 47% in favor. Once again, men are more likely to support legalization (52%) than women (43%). Voters 18-34 are the most in favor (66%) followed by the 35-49 demographic (51%). The 50-64 age bracket in Pennsylvania is largely undecided about the legalization of the personal use of cannabis with 48% in favor and 47% against, and the 64% of voters 65 and over are opposed.
It's important to note in all of these cases that even though the numbers are very close in all three states, 65% of respondents reported that if cannabis were legalized for personal use they would not personally consume it. This means that a significant percentage of voters that are in favor of legal cannabis don't even have an interest in consuming the product. Whether it be because of the social justice aspect, the extra tax revenue legal cannabis brings, the monetary savings from not prosecuting and incarcerating non-violent consumers, or the efficacy of medical cannabis, voters in swing states are beginning to favor legalization even if they have no direct personal stake in the matter.
Political pundits often look to polling in these three states to try and predict the outcome of national elections and to spot national trends. This isn't necessarily because these states are policy leaders, but rather that the opinions and moods of these states represent the median of the country - populations that are equal parts conservative and liberal. With approval ratings like these from the American middle the next few years should be very exciting for legal cannabis.
Marijuana Consumers Going From Green to Grey
While the common idea of a marijuana consumer is the stereotypical stoner – young, unattached, irresponsible – the spread of legalization combined with recent medical research has led to a greying of the traditional cannabis demographics. Though younger generations are pushing marijuana into the mainstream, older Americans are beginning to shake off the effects of Reefer Madness and are coming around to the benefits of marijuana.
While the common idea of a marijuana consumer is the stereotypical stoner – young, unattached, irresponsible – the spread of legalization combined with recent medical research has led to a greying of the traditional cannabis demographics. Though younger generations are pushing marijuana into the mainstream, older Americans are beginning to shake off the effects of Reefer Madness and are coming around to the benefits of marijuana.
According to a recent Pew Research poll, support for full marijuana legalization among Baby Boomers has reached 50%, quickly approaching the approval rating held by Generation X.
“My story is the story of so many people who use each day. And so what? What’s the issue? What will it lead to?”
Certainly there are some people that have been consuming consistently through their lives despite legal and social prohibitions, like Catherine Hiller who recently published a book recounting a lifetime of smoking marijuana. A smoker for the better part 50 years – taking breaks for pregnancy – Hiller sought to break the taboo associated with the drug by telling her story of a life lived mostly normally.
“I wanted to show people that smoking marijuana did not make me hit rock bottom,” Hiller, 68, said. “My story is the story of so many people who use each day. And so what? What’s the issue? What will it lead to?”
Yet more of this cannabis resurgence is made up of folks that smoked recreationally in their youth and gave it up as they prioritized career and family. Alec Tyson, senior researcher of the Pew study, puts it this way: “Lifecycle is part of it. They went from young adults to parents and adults with family and the times had something to do with it. There was the famous war on drugs under the Reagan Administration and the 1960s and 1970s were a different time in this country than the 1980s. The political climate of the country and rhetoric coming from leaders has some impact."
“They’re like kids in a candy store. They come in and they’re, like, 55 and they’re blown away by the options.”
Now that the war on drugs is waning – with general support increasing across demographics and with decriminalization and legalization spreading throughout the country – these smokers are returning and finding a market unbelievably more robust than the one they left. “They’re like kids in a candy store,” said Alison Ledden, marketing director at The Farm, a dispensary in Boulder, Colorado. “They come in and they’re, like, 55 and they’re blown away by the options.”
Still other older consumers are seniors interested in the medicinal possibilities that have been unveiled in the last two decades. As a pain reliever, and as a treatment for a whole host of illnesses medical cannabis is often an alternative that is natural, does not carry the dangers of prescription painkillers, and without the debilitating side effects of pharmaceuticals.
The San Francisco Gate writes of a cannabis club at the Rossmoor senior community in Walnut Creek, California, “… club members quickly bonded over their shared disappointment in pharmaceuticals they had been prescribed. Either the pills weren’t helping them or the side effects were more onerous than their actual ailments.”
For a variety of reasons older consumers are increasingly coming around to the growing legal marijuana industry. Culturally and economically this generation will have an enormous impact on how marijuana is seen and sold, and cannabis companies would be wise to realize this and make an active effort to cater to this booming market.
Medical Cannabis vs Opiate Pain Relievers
Legal medical cannabis has come a long way since California first legalized it in 1996. Today, 23 states and the District of Columbia allow cannabis to be used medically in some form with additional states on the brink, and medical cannabis enjoys an 80% approval rating in swing states. The list of conditions alleviated by cannabis is growing as more research is done on the plant and its effects, and one of the most prevalent uses is treatment of pain. For both chronic and acute pain medical cannabis is a safer alternative to current prescription painkillers.
Legal medical cannabis has come a long way since California first legalized it in 1996. Today, 23 states and the District of Columbia allow cannabis to be used medically in some form with additional states on the brink, and medical cannabis enjoys an 80% approval rating in swing states. The list of conditions alleviated by cannabis is growing as more research is done on the plant and its effects, and one of the most prevalent uses is treatment of pain. For both chronic and acute pain medical cannabis is a safer alternative to current prescription painkillers.
The Center for Disease Control recently reported that heroin use has increased nearly 63%, largely because of misuse of prescription drugs. CDC Director Tom Frieden stated, "They are addicted to prescription opiates because they are essentially the same chemical with the same effect on the brain as heroin,” and that, "Heroin costs roughly 5 times less than prescription opiates on the street." While studies are now coming out disproving the long-held misconception of marijuana as a gateway drug, it’s becoming clear that prescription medications like codeine, Vicodin, Oxycontin, Percocet and others are leading forces in what is becoming an epidemic of heroin abuse in the United States.
While tests show that it is virtually impossible to overdose from cannabis, the CDC report also stated that heroin deaths have nearly quadrupled in the last ten years with deaths from prescription painkillers rising even higher than that. Meanwhile, there have been no recorded cases in which marijuana alone has been the cause of death, and in states with medical cannabis legislation on the books deaths due to overdose of prescription medication has been shown to drop by up to 25%.
Americans consume 80% of the world’s opioid pain relievers, substances that have been shown to be dangerous and addictive, and that lead to even more dangerous substances like heroin. Cannabis, on the other hand, is being shown more and more every day to have real medical applications, and is being recognized by individual citizens and state governments as a safe alternative to prescription opiates. If Americans are going to be the most medicated citizens in the world when in comes to pain then we owe it to ourselves to make responsible choices with our medications. In the realm of pain relief the responsible choice is medical marijuana.
Salveo Capital Sponsors Americans for Safe Access
Salveo Capital is sponsoring Americans for Safe Access, a nationwide medical cannabis organization that focuses on patient education and patients’ rights. The company appreciates the work that ASA has done aiding patients across the country, and supports ASA’s goals of ensuring access to cannabis for therapeutic uses and research.
Salveo Capital is sponsoring Americans for Safe Access, a nationwide medical cannabis organization that focuses on patient education and patients’ rights. The company appreciates the work that ASA has done aiding patients across the country, and supports ASA’s goals of ensuring access to cannabis for therapeutic uses and research.
ASA’s patient-first approach focusing on safety, legality, and responsibility reflects Salveo’s own commitment to building a sustainable, professional cannabis industry. Additionally, Salveo believes in the efficacy of medical cannabis, and in its potential to improve the lives of millions of people in the U.S. living with debilitating illnesses. ASA stands up for cannabis users that need it the most – patients in need of access to medicine – and does it smartly and compassionately.
“We don’t know everything yet about medical cannabis,” said managing principal Alex Thiersch,” but we know that it works.”
Thiersch is a member of the ownership group of Salveo Health & Wellness, a medical cannabis dispensary opening later this year in district 14 serving Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, McDonough, and Warren counties. He recently spoke as part of the Know Your Rights panel at the Illinois Medical Cannabis Patient Summit hosted jointly by ASA and the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago. He focused on the civil protections available for card-holding cannabis patients granted by the Illinois medical cannabis pilot program.
Medical Marijuana Can Ease the Pain of NFL Retirement
At 8pm EST next Thursday the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will make the first selection in the 2015 NFL Draft. As we prepare to tune in to the beginnings of what will be, for some, the realization of lifelong dreams let’s also consider those men for whom those dreams are a memory. Let’s think of the retired players, years removed from the gridiron, whose bodies are beginning to feel the pull of age, and the physical punishment that was the cost of entry to football’s biggest stage. For these athletes pain is often a constant fact of life, and while the current stable of legal painkillers provides some relief the safest medication is still federally prohibited: medical marijuana.
At 8pm EST next Thursday the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will make the first selection in the 2015 NFL Draft. As we prepare to tune in to the beginnings of what will be, for some, the realization of lifelong dreams let’s also consider those men for whom those dreams are a memory. Let’s think of the retired players, years removed from the gridiron, whose bodies are beginning to feel the pull of age, and the physical punishment that was the cost of entry to football’s biggest stage. For these athletes pain is often a constant fact of life, and while the current stable of legal painkillers provides some relief the safest medication is still federally prohibited: medical marijuana.
The vast majority of players that have ever suited up in an NFL uniform did not go on to be household names. In fact, the average NFL career is only three to six years. Even these relatively short pro stints, however, are filled with repeated contact reported to be similar to a car crash. Oftentimes youth, adrenaline, and cortisone shots enable these men to function normally during their playing days, but as time wears on these crushing hits that earn our ‘ooohs’ and ‘aaahs’ eventually add up to debilitating joint and muscle pain.
When players are away from NFL trainers and team doctors – providing top dollar medical care – what options remain? Not all players walk away from the game with the sort of contracts to maintain top quality healthcare throughout retirement. We’ve spoken with retired players like Israel Idonije who relayed stories of friends in so much pain they couldn't get out of bed without medication. When over the counter pain painkillers are not enough, players must turn to current prescription narcotics that carry heavy risk of accidental overdose or addiction.
Though medical marijuana has lately been making headlines for the CBD-heavy seizure medications and as an appetite-stimulant and nausea-suppressant for cancer patients, it’s also a highly safe and effective analgesic. Medical marijuana is a superior medication for pain, and any hesitation over its general availability is an issue for proper regulation, not prohibition. Medical marijuana is also highly safe, especially when compared to opioids like Vicodin, Codeine, Oxycotin, and Percocet. Cannabis is not chemically addictive like these substances, and there has never been a recorded case of death due to marijuana overdose. In fact, accidental overdoses in states with medical marijuana laws on the books drop by 25% .
When we watch the draft we think of the futures of these young players in terms of how they can help our favorite team win in the next few years. Will he solidify our front seven? Is he the answer to the problems in our secondary? Will we finally have a running game? Is this the quarterback that will transform our franchise? It’s harder to take the long view and ask if, in twenty or thirty years, he’ll be one of the lucky ones that only needs a cane to get around, or if he’ll instead need to rely on powerful medication. The NFL itself is only just beginning to think in these terms because former stars are forcing it to. Once these players step out of the limelight we can continue to support them. As fans, consumers, and voters, we can push to allow athletes across the country – in addition to countless other people living daily with crippling pain – access to medical marijuana: the safest pain reliever on record.