Colorado Poll: Pot Use Should Stay at Home, Private Clubs

Some Colorado voters admit they've tried marijuana since it became legal in their state on Jan. 1, but most voters agree that marijuana use should be confined to homes and members-only clubs, a new Quinnipiac University poll reveals.

"Coloradans are still good to go on marijuana for recreational use in private settings, but as far as letting the good times roll in bars and clubs where alcohol is served, voters say don't smoke 'em if you've got 'em," Tim Malloy, assistant director of the poll, said in a press release.

In the poll, 51 percent of the 1,147 registered voters said they have tried marijuana, with 16 percent of the respondents saying they've tried the drug since January.

Age made a difference when it came to people who have admitted trying marijuana at some point in their lives. In the age groups polled, 59 percent of voters ages 18-29 admitted trying the drug at some point in their lives; 54 percent of 30-to-49-year-olds; 60 percent of people ages 50-64; and 26 percent of voters ages 65 and older. And of those, 33 percent of the people in the 18-to-29 age bracket most admitted trying marijuana for the first time since January.

Overall support for legalizing marijuana has dropped slightly from a poll taken a month after it officially became legal. At that time, 58 percent supported legalization, with 39 percent opposed, but in the current poll, 54 percent support the law, while 43 percent oppose it.

Colorado's voters also say, by 66-29 percent, that marijuana should not be permitted in bars, clubs, and other entertainment venues where alcohol is present, the poll revealed. Men and women differ on the issue, with 34 percent of the men and 27 percent of the women polled saying marijuana should be allowed in bars, not just in members-only clubs.

While some Colorado residents may be trying marijuana, 63 percent of the poll's respondents said that doesn't mean they want people to be able to light up at entertainment events where admission is charged, compared to 33 percent who said allowing marijuana at concerts and other paid events would be fine by them.

In addition, 61 percent of Colorado voters said alcohol is more harmful than marijuana, while 19 percent say marijuana is more harmful, and 13 percent said they have the same effects. An equal number, 61 percent, said laws governing the use of marijuana should be as strict as laws for alcohol use, and 29 percent said marijuana laws should be even more strict, while 10 percent want the marijuana laws to be less strict.

Voters also agreed, by 59 percent, that alcohol is more harmful to society than marijuana, with 22 percent saying marijuana is the more harmful of the two, and 14 percent deeming the substance equally harmful.

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