POLL FINDS 75% OF TEXANS SUPPORT MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Legislation That Legalizes Its Use Is Expected Next Year

A strong majority of Texans favor legalizing the medical use of
marijuana, according to a new poll.

Seventy-five percent said people with cancer and other serious
illnesses should be allowed to use marijuana for medical purposes as
long as their doctor approves, according to a Scripps Howard Texas
poll question commissioned by Texans for Medical Marijuana. Nineteen
percent said they would oppose such a bill.

"I'm surprised support is that high," said Dr. Richard Evans,
president of the Texas Cancer Center and medical adviser to Texans for
Medical Marijuana. "That should help when we next testify before the
Legislature."

Bills that would have legalized the medical use of marijuana have been
introduced in the last four sessions of the Texas Legislature but have
never passed. Evans said he expects legislation again will be
introduced in 2005.

Marijuana is considered to have some therapeutic uses, particularly
the relief of nausea suffered by cancer patients undergoing
chemotherapy. As a result, 11 states, most of them in the West, have
legalized its medical use.

In a report on the medical use of marijuana earlier this year, a
committee of the Texas Medical Association called for more research
into whether seriously ill patients would benefit from marijuana. It
also said doctors should have the freedom to discuss with patients all
treatment options, including marijuana, without fear of regulatory or
criminal sanctions. It did not take a position on whether Texas should
legalize marijuana's medical use.

The chairman of the TMA committee could not be reached for his
reaction to the poll.

The telephone poll found Democrats were more supportive of medical
marijuana than Republicans -- 81 percent to 67 percent; and adults 18
to 29 favored it the most, at 81 percent, while those in their 40s
favored it the least, at 70 percent. Seventy-two percent of those 60
and older favored it.

The marijuana question was part of the fall 2004 Texas Poll and was
asked of 900 adult Texans by telephone Oct. 11-28. The margin of error
is 3.3 percentage points.

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BY THE NUMBERS

A poll question commissioned by Texans for Medical Marijuana found a
cross-section of support for its cause.

The 2004 Texas Poll broke down the responses using the following criteria:

Age: 81 percent of those 18 to 29 and 72 percent of those 60 and older

Income : 74 percent of both those making less than $10,000 a year and those
making $60,001 and above

Race/Ethnicity: 74 percent of anglos, 79 percent of Hispanics and 80
percent of blacks

Education: 69 percent of those who didn't graduate high school and 71
percent of those who did graduate work

Gender: 75 percent of both men and women