POLL: MANY ELDERLY BACK LEGALIZING MEDICINAL POT

WASHINGTON - Nearly three-fourths of older Americans support
legalizing marijuana for medicinal use, according to a poll for the
nation's largest advocacy group for seniors.

More than half of those questioned said they believe that marijuana
has medicinal benefits, while a larger majority agreed the drug is
addictive.

AARP, with 35 million members, says it has no political position on
medicinal marijuana and that its local branches have not chosen sides
in the scores of state ballot initiatives on the issue in recent elections.

But with medicinal marijuana at the center of a Supreme Court case to
be decided next year, and nearly a dozen states with medicinal
marijuana laws on their books, AARP decided to study the issue.

``The use of medical marijuana applies to many older Americans who may
benefit from cannabis,'' said Ed Dwyer, an editor at AARP the
Magazine, which will discuss medicinal marijuana in its March/April
issue appearing in late January.

Among the 1,706 adults polled in AARP's random telephone survey in
November, opinions varied along regional and generational lines and
among the 30 percent of respondents who said they have smoked pot.
AARP members represented 37 percent of respondents.

Overall, 72 percent of respondents agreed ``adults should be allowed
to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if a physician
recommends it.'' Those in the West (82 percent) and Northeast (79
percent) were more receptive to the idea than in the Midwest (67
percent) and Southwest (65 percent). In Southern states, 70 percent
agreed with the statement.

Though 69 percent of those age 70 and older said they support legal
medicinal marijuana use, fewer than half agreed it has medicinal benefits.

Seventy percent of respondents age 45 to 49 said they believe in the
medicinal benefits of pot, as did 59 percent of those in the 50 to 69
age group.

And while 74 percent of all people surveyed said pot is addictive,
older respondents were more likely to think so: 83 percent of those 70
and older, compared with 61 percent of those ages 45 to 49.

Generational lines also divided those who have smoked pot: Just 8
percent of those 70 and older admitted having lit up, compared with 58
percent of the 45 to 49 group, 37 percent of those between 50 and 59
and 15 percent of the 60 to 69 set.