Elon University conducted an online survey earlier this year, between Jan. 29 and Jan. 31, 2021. The university recently released the results of the statewide poll, which asked residents of North Carolina to share opinions on legalizing cannabis for various purposes.
More than 1,450 individuals provided feedback through the survey, which asked individuals to share their opinions on legalizing cannabis for recreational and medical use. The survey also asked individuals to share their views on how they perceived cannabis and how its legalization would impact society.
A similar poll on the views of North Carolina’s residents and the issues surrounding cannabis legalization had been conducted by Elon University earlier, in April 2017.
The results for this year’s poll are as follows: 17% of the individuals surveyed said that they did not support cannabis legalization for medical purposes while 73% did support medical use of cannabis. The proportion of individuals who did not support the change in policy has only changed slightly, with results from the 2017 survey showing that the percentage of those who opposed legalization of cannabis for medical use was 18%.
While the number of respondents in favor of legalizing recreational cannabis was lower than previous results, 54% of the respondents were still in favor of the legalization of recreational cannabis. This year’s poll showed that 34% of the respondents weren’t in favor of legalization of the recreational use cannabis. This is a significant decline as the 2017 survey had the number of those who were against recreational legalization of cannabis at 51%.
The survey also asked residents whether they were in favor of reducing penalties for cannabis possession from a criminal offense to a civil offense. The survey noted that 67% of the participants revealed that they supported a reduction of the penalty for cannabis possession.
The state of North Carolina has decriminalized the possession of small amounts of cannabis — but only for first offenses. It is possible for a first offense to be ruled as a suspended sentence. However, instead of a civil violation, the offense will carry the weight of a misdemeanor.
In addition to this, 64% of the survey participants admitted that legalizing cannabis would help the state’s economy; 45% of respondents also stated that crime rates would drop with the legalization of cannabis, although 31% were undecided on whether it would drop or increase.
Presently, 35 states in the United States have legalized cannabis for medical purposes and 15 states have legalized the use of marijuana for recreational purposes.
All states with legal medical marijuana programs are onto something because many companies have developed a number of cannabis-based medicines. A clear example is XPhyto Therapeutics Corp. (CSE: XPHY) (OTCQB: XPHYF) (FSE: 4XT), which has been busy with drug formulation as well as drug delivery systems, including its CBD and THC combo sublingual strip targeting MS-induced spasticity.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to XPhyto Therapeutics Corp. (CSE: XPHY) (OTCQB: XPHYF) (FSE: 4XT) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/XPHYF
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