SURVEY SHOWS SUPPORT FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Residents of Tennessee's 8th Senatorial District support permitting
physician-prescribed medical marijuana use.

The response to that question on Sen. Raymond Finney's survey distributed
throughout Blount and Sevier counties was the only one that surprised
Finney, he said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

"They may have been more opposed to it if all the facts were on the table,"
he said.

On the other hand, Finney said the closeness of that vote -- 51 percent in
favor versus 41 percent against -- and others on the nonscientific survey
reflect the divided nature of the country.

"Understand how difficult this division in thought makes it on your leaders
at all levels of government," Finney wrote in his e-newsletter Friday, in
which he released the results of 495 surveys returned to his office.
"Nearly half of citizens will be displeased no matter which way a vote is
cast."

Two questions on guns also divided respondents. Forty-four percent said a
person with a gun carry permit should be allowed to take a gun in a
restaurant if he or she does not consume alcohol, while 48 percent said
guns should not be allowed. Meanwhile, 49 percent of respondents said a
person with a gun carry permit should be allowed to take a gun on school
property or in public parks if the gun is locked in the car, while 44
percent said guns should not be allowed.

Cell phones and the HOPE (lottery) scholarship solicited split responses as
well.

Though 86 percent of respondents thought it should be illegal for a driver
under 18 to drive while using a cell phone, respondents could not agree on
a law to address driving and talking on a cell phone at the same time.
Thirty-nine percent said a law should ban all cell phone usage while
driving, while 35 percent supported a mandate on hands-free technology.
Another 19 percent said there should be no law, 6 percent were undecided
and 1 percent did not answer the question.

Asked about the HOPE scholarship, 46 percent said they consider the
scholarship program successful while 43 percent remained undecided. Eleven
percent said they did not consider the scholarship program a success.

Respondents also could not agree on how excess lottery proceeds should be
used, with 33 percent advocating increasing the scholarship from $3,000 to
$4,000 per year and another 33 percent suggesting saving it for a "rainy
day." Twenty-two percent favored funding a pre-K program while 8 percent
were undecided and 4 percent did not answer the question.

Regardless of their split answers on the other two questions, 62 percent of
respondents agreed the academic threshold for the HOPE scholarship should
not be raised to at least a 3.25 grade point average or an ACT score of at
least 23. Twenty-three percent said it should be raised, 13 percent were
undecided and 2 percent did not answer the question.

TennCare Pondered

The most questions were asked about TennCare. Although 85 percent said
TennCare should not be kept "as is," 61 percent were against instituting a
state health insurance plan.

Given the opportunity to respond to several proposed fixes, 73 percent said
limits should be placed on benefits, 68 percent said limits should be
placed on prescriptions and 49 percent said the program should eliminate
"medically uninsurables."

If money was saved by changing from TennCare to Medicaid only, 37 percent
would favor using the revenue to improve public health departments while 30
percent would return that money to the general fund and 12 percent would
fund a pre-K program. Fifteen percent were undecided while 6 percent did
not answer the question.

Finney Reacts To Results

Finney said he was not surprised by most of the answers to the survey.

"Some showed exactly what other polls have shown," he said, using as an
example 77 percent of respondents favoring letting voters decide whether
the state constitution should be amended to define marriage as the union of
one man and one woman only.

Finney wrote in the e-newsletter that he will do his best to reflect the
majority view when these issues come for a vote, but that he may deem it
best to side with the minority view on some issues.

"The issues are not as simple as I was required to present them in a one-or
two-sentence question," he wrote. "I will, however, always be ready to
explain and defend the reason for voting against the apparent majority in
this survey."

Finney said Tuesday he would vote against the majority view when he is
privy to information that may not be made available to the general public.

"There are reams of paper coming into my office every day. We spend hours
in hearings," he said. "The better solution may be something many people
are not aware of. I will do in my judgment what is best for them."

In the meantime, Finney said he had read all the comments respondents
attached to the surveys and had found them to be instructive.

"Everyone gave heartfelt, well-thought-out, well-considered answers," he
said. "Everyone took it seriously."

Finney is still accepting and tabulating responses to the survey. However,
he will not publish any further results, he said.