New Study: Opinion Poll on Marijuana Laws in Hawai’i

File photo courtesy: Maui Police Department.

By Wendy Osher

Attitudes toward marijuana and marijuana laws is the subject of a statewide poll, the results of which will be discussed during a presentation tomorrow in Honolulu.

The presentation will also feature discussion on the economic impacts associated with marijuana, views on decriminalization, and law enforcement.

The poll, conducted by QMark Research seeks answers to drug policy issues in Hawaii and trends occurring in other states including the following:

• With states now decriminalizing and even legalizing marijuana, where does Hawaii stand?
• How do Hawaii’s people feel about marijuana and marijuana law enforcement?
• Who is most likely to get caught up in the surge of local marijuana arrests since 2004?
• If marijuana were legalized, taxed and regulated in Hawaii, what effect could it have on the economy?
• Do Hawaii’s people support a dispensary system for the state’s 12 year-old medical marijuana program?
• Is marijuana reform a “third rail” of politics?

To answer these questions, Barbara Ankersmit of QMark Research will discuss findings of the poll; and David Nixon of the University of Hawaii Social Sciences Public Policy Center will discuss the results of his economic study.

The presentation is hosted by the Drug Policy Action Group and the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii.