Poll Shows Overwhelming Support For New Jersey Cannabis Legalization Measure
Election Day is only two weeks away in the United States, and voter turnout is shaping up to be record-breaking. That is good news for states that are voting on cannabis reform measures.
Historically, a higher voter turnout tends to help the chances of cannabis reform measures passing on Election Day. Conversely, having a cannabis reform measure on the ballot has contributed to greater voter turnout rates because people that may have stayed home actually show up and vote since cannabis reform is on the ballot.
One state that will be voting on adult-use cannabis legalization is New Jersey. The legalization effort in New Jersey has been going on for many years, and in 2017 when current New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy was elected it was expected that New Jersey would legalize fairly quickly.
As the sessions continued to pass and the New Jersey Legislature failed to follow through on getting legalization approved, it became obvious that the issue would be better decided by voters.
New Jersey lawmakers referred a legalization measure that will appear on the ballot for voters to decide. If current polling is accurate, the measure will win by a landslide, as reported by Marijuana Moment:
New Jersey voters support a marijuana legalization referendum that’s on their ballots by a nearly three-to-one margin, according to a new poll released on Friday.
The Stockton University Polling Institute survey found that when likely voters were asked whether they “support or oppose a constitutional amendment legalizing marijuana in New Jersey,” 66 percent were in favor, compared to 23 percent in opposition.
If New Jersey voters approve legalization, it will likely result in a domino effect in the surrounding area. Cannabis legalization is closer than ever in New York and Connecticut, and pressure is especially high right now with Massachusetts already having legal adult-use sales occurring.
If/when legalization wins in New Jersey on Election Day, states like New York and Connecticut will have to decide very quickly if they want to see even more cannabis tax revenues going to other states or if they want to finally get on the right side of history and see those dollars stay within their borders.