Ohio residents like their cannabis dispensaries and support the construction of more in their communities, whether in new or retrofitted buildings, according to a new survey.
Ohioans also had positive opinions on cannabis dispensaries’ impacts in their communities, including economic, environmental and quality of life, according to pollsters at Ohio Northern University’s Institute for Civics and Public Policy (ICAPP), who surveyed 1,638 Ohio adults from Oct. 7-13, according to Cannabis Business Times.
The poll covered four “backyard” zoning issues: solar farms, multifamily housing, cannabis dispensaries, and AI/data centers.
“There is overall support for cannabis dispensaries in Ohio, especially when it comes to their economic impact, but that support drops considerably when discussing other impacts of the issue like public safety,” said Dr. Brian King, assistant professor of political science and faculty associate at ICAPP, who co-led the project in collaboration with SurveyUSA.
Overall, support for new cannabis dispensaries drew positive responses, with a net support of +19 among all Ohioans: 47% of participants strongly or somewhat supported new store openings, 28% were opposed, and 24% were indifferent.
Key demographic findings for the overall support of new cannabis dispensaries included:
- Race: Hispanic (+42) and African-American (+39) respondents are noticeably more supportive than white (+17) respondents.
- Party: Ohioans who consider themselves strong Democrats (+44) are far more supportive than strong Republicans (-3).
- Urbanicity: Urban residents (+34) are more supportive than both suburbanites (+15) and rural residents (+13).
- Age: Those aged 18 to 34 years (+38) and 35 to 49 years (+33) are more supportive than those aged 50 to 64 years (+19), while Ohioans 65 and older (-17) oppose new dispensaries.
- Kids in Home: Ohioans with two kids in their homes (+43) are more supportive than those with no kids (+13), while those with one kid (+25) and three-plus kids (+37) are also supportive.
Read more at Cannabis Business Times.
