SALT LAKE CITY — A new public opinion poll shows half of Utahns now support fully legalized, adult-use recreational marijuana in the state.
The poll, paid for by the Utah Patients Coalition and conducted by Noble Predictive Insights earlier this month, found 50% of Utah voters would support recreational cannabis. Another 38% of Utahns surveyed support medical cannabis only and 9% believe cannabis should be illegal entirely. Three percent were "not sure."
"We did this just to see where we were," Desiree Hennessy, the executive director of the Utah Patients Coalition, told FOX 13 News on Monday.
The Noble poll found there's more support for recreational marijuana among younger voters (60%) while those over age 65 are only supportive of medical cannabis (only 29% of voters 65+ support recreational cannabis). Middle-aged Utahns are more persuadable, Noble pointed out, with 49% supportive of recreational marijuana and 38% supporting medical cannabis only.
"We're not even just talking patients. We're talking Utahns who are up for a recreational or adult-use market in Utah," Hennessy said. "That is surprising, but it's not surprising after you've watched what's happened with the program."
In 2018, voters approved Proposition 2, a citizen ballot initiative that legalized medical cannabis in Utah. The legislature then overrode it, crafting a highly-regulated program. The poll commissioned by the Utah Patients Coalition found that 74% of Utahns are aware of the program.
"The question then becomes, why are we seeing so many Utah license plates in dispensaries out of state? Why are — by the Department of Health’s own data — why are we still seeing about 60% of even medical cannabis patients shopping on the illicit market or out of state? That comes down to cost almost every single time," Hennessy said.
House Minority Whip Jennifer Dailey-Provost said she believes people are becoming more comfortable with Utah's medical cannabis program.
"Most people, if they aren’t a patient? They know somebody who is a patient," she said. "And as we continue to struggle with the opioid crisis, regognizing that there are good, safe, alternatives. Certainly safer than any opioids."
Rep. Dailey-Provost, D-Salt Lake City, is among a handful of lawmakers who are tasked by their respective caucuses with handling medical cannabis legislation on Utah's Capitol Hill. She acknowledged there are concerns about regulation and cost for patients.
"Pricing is not only causing patients to go out of state and purchase in states with recreational access like Colorado and Nevada, but actually the black market," she told FOX 13 News on Monday. "That’s what we really don’t want because we know patients don’t have the safety mechanisms that exist in our medical program."
Rep. Dailey-Provost is introducing a bill in the 2025 Utah State Legislature to offer patients a cost comparison tool. She said pricing transparency will help patients know what supply is out there and who can offer it for less.
Looking over the poll results, the House Minority Whip said it demonstrated how far Utahns have come on cannabis and that a lot of people's fears when the citizen initiative passed "just haven't panned out." But asked if she believed if Utah would legalize adult-use recreational cannabis, she said the Biden administration's efforts on marijuana descheduling might shift the conversation.
"Absent that decision, you know, I could say I don’t ever see my colleagues supporting a recreational program," Rep. Dailey-Provost said. "But 10 years ago, I was skeptical we’d ever get a medical program and here we are."
Utah is bordered by adult-use recreational cannabis states. Voters have legalized it in Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. Attempts to legalize medical cannabis in Idaho and Wyoming have so far failed.
But Hennessy said while her organization is not supportive of recreational cannabis in Utah, she's not surprised by the attitude shift.
"We have been suspecting that this has been slowly increasing over the years and with this new poll, we show that 50% of Utahns now support adult-use or recreational market," she said. "While Utah Patients Coalition doesn't feel like that's the next best step for Utah, what it would do is it would drive down cost."
