December 5, 2012 - American Voters Back Legalized Marijuana, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Voters Split On Gay Marriage, But Catholics Back It Word format Watch Video: Assistant Director Tim Malloy discusses poll results Clip Information and Download: FLV File - For Website (1920x1080 / 42.3MB) Original .MP4 File - For Broadcast (1920x1080 / 326.5MB) American voters favor the legalization of marijuana, 51 - 44 percent, with a substantial gender and age gap, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Voters today are divided 48 - 46 percent on the issue of same-sex marriage, reversing the 55 - 36 percent opposition to same-sex marriage in a July, 2008, survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. White Catholics support it 49 - 43 percent. Climate change did not cause Superstorm Sandy, voters say 53 - 37 percent. On another issue, voters say 47 - 41 percent that David Petraeus was right to resign as director of the Central Intelligence Agency after admitting to an extramarital affair. On the controversy over the killing of the U.S/ ambassador to Libya, 47 percent of voters believe the Obama administration shared the facts with the American people as they became available while 41 percent think the administration deliberately misled the public. "With the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes legal in about 20 states, and Washington and Colorado voting this November to legalize the drug for recreational use, American voters seem to have a more favorable opinion about this once-dreaded drug," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "There are large differences on this question among the American people. "Men support legalization 59 - 36 percent, but women are opposed 52 - 44 percent. The racial split evident throughout American politics on many matters is barely noticeable on this question with 50 percent of white voters and 57 percent of black voters backing legalization." "Not surprisingly, voters 18 to 29 years old support legalization 67 - 29 percent while voters over age 65 are opposed 56 - 35 percent," Brown added. "Voters 30 to 44 years old like the idea 58 - 39 percent, while voters 45 to 64 years old are divided 48 - 47 percent." "This is the first time Quinnipiac University asked this question in its national poll so there is no comparison from earlier years. It seems likely, however, that given the better than 2-1 majority among younger voters, legalization is just a matter of time." On same-sex marriage, the biggest change over the past four years has been among men. In 2008, they oppose gay marriage 61 - 31 percent. Now they oppose it 50 - 43 percent, a 23- point shift over the past four years. Women, who had opposed it 51 - 40 percent in 2008, now back it 52 - 42 percent, a shift of 21 points. White Protestants are opposed 63 - 32 percent. "It seems pretty clear that attitudes toward same-sex marriage in American society are changing rapidly. While the country remains split on the issue, supporters have come pretty far in the last four years," said Brown. "Since voters 18 to 29 years old support same-sex marriage 63 - 35 percent, once again we see it's just a matter of time." On whether climate change caused Superstorm Sandy, there are also wide splits in the country. Only 14 percent of Republicans, but 37 percent of independent voters and 55 percent of Democrats think climate change caused the storm. Men say no 57 - 35 percent, while women say no 49 - 39 percent. American voters support 70 - 26 percent Obama's "Dream" policy to allow young immigrants to stay in the U.S. without fear of deportation. Illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay and apply for citizenship, 57 percent of voters say, while 11 percent say they should be allowed to stay with no path to citizenship and 26 percent say they should be deported. From November 28 - December 3, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,949 registered voters nationwide, with a margin of error of +/- 2.2 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia and the nation as a public service and for research. For more information or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, or call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter. 26. Which comes closest to your view about illegal immigrants who are currently living in the United States? A) They should be allowed to stay in the United States and to eventually apply for US citizenship. B) They should be allowed to remain in the United States, but not be allowed to apply for U.S. citizenship. C) They should be required to leave the U.S. Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Hsp A)Stay/Citizenship 57% 41% 74% 53% 51% 63% 53% 74% 69% B)Stay/Not citizen 11 12 9 12 13 9 11 11 10 C)Not stay 26 40 14 30 31 23 31 11 15 DK/NA 5 7 3 5 5 5 5 4 6 WHITE.............................................. COLLEGE DEG BornAgnEv Yes No Prot Cath Men Wom Yes No A)Stay/Citizenship 59% 49% 49% 49% 46% 59% 45% 53% B)Stay/Not citizen 14 9 9 14 14 8 11 11 C)Not stay 21 36 37 32 35 28 39 32 DK/NA 6 5 5 5 6 5 5 4 COLLEGE DEG ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INC AGE IN YRS.............. Yes No <50K 50-100 >100K 18-29 30-44 45-64 65+ A)Stay/Citizenship 63% 55% 60% 54% 58% 71% 54% 57% 53% B)Stay/Not citizen 14 10 9 13 14 11 12 11 11 C)Not stay 18 30 26 29 23 16 27 28 30 DK/NA 5 5 5 4 5 3 7 4 6 27. As you may know, the Obama administration has announced a new policy in which young illegal immigrants who came to the country as children will be able to obtain work permits and will not face deportation. Do you support or oppose this new policy? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Hsp Support 70% 52% 87% 67% 68% 73% 65% 86% 81% Oppose 26 43 11 28 29 23 31 12 13 DK/NA 4 5 2 5 3 5 4 2 6 WHITE.............................................. COLLEGE DEG BornAgnEv Yes No Prot Cath Men Wom Yes No Support 74% 61% 59% 65% 62% 68% 53% 67% Oppose 23 34 36 32 34 28 43 29 DK/NA 3 4 5 3 4 4 5 4 COLLEGE DEG ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INC AGE IN YRS.............. Yes No <50K 50-100 >100K 18-29 30-44 45-64 65+ Support 76% 68% 71% 70% 71% 79% 74% 69% 63% Oppose 21 28 25 27 26 17 24 28 31 DK/NA 3 4 4 3 3 5 2 4 6 TREND: As you may know, the Obama administration has announced a new policy in which young illegal immigrants who came to the country as children will be able to obtain work permits and will not face deportation. Do you support or oppose this new policy? Dec 05 Jul 12 2012 2012 Support 70 55 Oppose 26 39 DK/NA 4 6 28. How concerned are you about global warming or climate change; very concerned, somewhat concerned, not too concerned, or not concerned at all? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Hsp Very concerned 36% 10% 57% 33% 33% 38% 31% 49% 48% Smwht concerned 30 28 32 31 28 32 30 35 26 Not too concerned 15 23 6 18 16 14 17 6 13 Not concerned 19 37 4 17 24 14 22 8 13 DK/NA 1 1 1 - - 1 1 2 - WHITE.............................................. COLLEGE DEG BornAgnEv Yes No Prot Cath Men Wom Yes No Very concerned 40% 26% 21% 30% 27% 34% 16% 31% Smwht concerned 24 33 32 30 29 31 28 32 Not too concerned 16 17 20 20 17 17 24 17 Not concerned 19 23 26 20 27 17 31 20 DK/NA - 1 1 - - 1 1 1 COLLEGE DEG ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INC AGE IN YRS.............. Yes No <50K 50-100 >100K 18-29 30-44 45-64 65+ Very concerned 43% 33% 39% 32% 33% 36% 35% 37% 35% Smwht concerned 26 32 32 33 28 30 30 31 28 Not too concerned 14 15 13 17 15 14 15 15 15 Not concerned 17 19 16 18 24 20 19 17 19 DK/NA - 1 1 - - - - - 2 TREND: How concerned are you about global warming or climate change; very concerned, somewhat concerned, not too concerned, or not concerned at all? Dec 05 Dec 23 2012 2009 Very concerned 36 29 Smwht concerned 30 30 Not too concerned 15 17 Not concerned 19 23 DK/NA 1 1 29. Do you think Hurricane Sandy was the result of climate change or don't you think so? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Hsp Climate change 37% 14% 55% 37% 35% 39% 31% 56% 43% Don't think so 53 78 34 52 57 49 59 36 45 DK/NA 10 8 10 11 8 12 10 8 12 WHITE.............................................. COLLEGE DEG BornAgnEv Yes No Prot Cath Men Wom Yes No Climate change 38% 28% 24% 30% 28% 34% 17% 32% Don't think so 51 62 67 60 64 54 73 59 DK/NA 11 10 9 10 8 12 9 9 COLLEGE DEG ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INC AGE IN YRS.............. Yes No <50K 50-100 >100K 18-29 30-44 45-64 65+ Climate change 40% 36% 43% 33% 33% 44% 38% 36% 32% Don't think so 49 55 47 59 59 52 55 55 48 DK/NA 11 9 10 8 8 4 7 9 20 30. In general, do you support or oppose same-sex marriage? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Hsp Support 48% 23% 65% 49% 43% 52% 47% 43% 61% Oppose 46 73 29 43 50 42 47 45 36 DK/NA 7 4 7 8 7 6 6 12 3 WHITE.............................................. COLLEGE DEG BornAgnEv Yes No Prot Cath Men Wom Yes No Support 60% 41% 32% 49% 42% 51% 17% 52% Oppose 37 52 63 43 52 43 77 42 DK/NA 4 7 5 8 6 6 5 6 COLLEGE DEG ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INC AGE IN YRS.............. Yes No <50K 50-100 >100K 18-29 30-44 45-64 65+ Support 60% 42% 46% 46% 56% 63% 54% 44% 36% Oppose 35 50 48 46 40 35 40 48 57 DK/NA 5 7 6 8 4 2 6 8 8 TREND: In general, do you support or oppose same-sex marriage? Dec 05 Jul 17 2012 2008 Support 48 36 Oppose 46 55 DK/NA 7 9 31. Do you think that the use of marijuana should be made legal in the United States, or not? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Hsp Yes 51% 31% 58% 58% 59% 44% 50% 57% 47% No 44 66 36 37 36 52 46 37 48 DK/NA 5 3 6 5 5 5 5 6 5 WHITE.............................................. COLLEGE DEG BornAgnEv Yes No Prot Cath Men Wom Yes No Yes 54% 47% 39% 45% 57% 43% 33% 48% No 42 48 56 50 39 52 64 47 DK/NA 5 4 5 4 4 5 3 5 COLLEGE DEG ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INC AGE IN YRS.............. Yes No <50K 50-100 >100K 18-29 30-44 45-64 65+ Yes 54% 50% 52% 49% 56% 67% 58% 48% 35% No 41 45 43 47 41 29 39 47 56 DK/NA 5 5 4 4 3 4 3 5 9 32. Do you think David Petraeus was right to resign because of admitted adultery or do you think he should have remained as the head of the CIA? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Hsp Right to resign 47% 50% 43% 48% 48% 45% 47% 41% 47% Remained CIA head 41 37 43 42 40 41 40 48 42 DK/NA 13 13 14 10 11 14 13 10 11 WHITE.............................................. COLLEGE DEG BornAgnEv Mltry Yes No Prot Cath Men Wom Yes No HsHld Right to resign 51% 45% 48% 48% 49% 46% 48% 48% 48% Remained CIA head 38 40 39 42 40 39 36 41 42 DK/NA 11 14 13 10 12 15 15 11 10 COLLEGE DEG ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME... AGE IN YRS....... Yes No <50K 50-100 100-250 >250K 18-44 45-64 65+ Right to resign 48% 46% 45% 48% 49% 42% 43% 49% 48% Remained CIA head 39 41 43 41 40 48 42 40 39 DK/NA 13 13 12 11 10 10 15 10 1339 DK/NA 13 13 12 11 11 14 15 10 13 33. Do you think the Obama administration deliberately misled the American people about the events surrounding the death of the American ambassador to Libya, or do you believe the Obama administration shared the facts with the American people as they became available? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Hsp Deliberately misled 41% 79% 11% 42% 44% 39% 50% 8% 26% Shared facts 47 12 76 45 44 49 39 78 59 DK/NA 12 9 13 13 12 12 11 14 15 WHITE.............................................. COLLEGE DEG BornAgnEv Mltry Yes No Prot Cath Men Wom Yes No HsHld Deliberately misled 46% 53% 59% 53% 52% 49% 70% 48% 46% Shared facts 46 35 31 37 37 40 23 41 43 DK/NA 8 12 10 10 11 11 8 11 11 COLLEGE DEG ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME... AGE IN YRS....... Yes No <50K 50-100 100-250 >250K 18-44 45-64 65+ Deliberately misled 39% 42% 37% 44% 48% 40% 37% 44% 45% Shared facts 51 45 50 44 45 52 49 47 42 DK/NA 10 13 13 12 7 8 15 9 13 Demographic Summary
