Ohio voters support medical marijuana by a wide margin but just barely a majority like the idea of legalizing pot for recreational use, according to a new poll released today by Quinnipiac University.
Pollsters found 84 percent say yes to medical marijuana while 52 percent approve of adult being allowed to possess small amounts for personal use. Meanwhile, 84 percent of voters say they probably or definitely would not use marijuana themselves.
In the 2016 U.S. Senate race, Democrat Ted Strickland leads against incumbent Republican Rob Portman 48 percent to 39 percent, the poll found. Independent voters back Strickland 50 percent to 32 percent.
If the matchup were between Portman and Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld, Portman would come out ahead, 47 percent to 24 percent, the poll found.
Forty-nine percent of Ohio voters approve of the job Portman is doing in the Senate and 38 percent give him a favorable rating. Strickland has a 49 percent favorability rating while 89 percent of voters don’t know enough about Sittenfeld to have an opinion.
Just over half — 52 percent of voters — like the job that U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown is doing. And Gov. John Kasich gets a 61 percent job approval rating.
The poll was conducted March 17 to March 28 on land lines and cellphones. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.