With Election Day just two days away, we’re taking one last look at polling results for the ballot measures voters in nine states will be considering. Voters in five states will decide whether to allow recreational marijuana use, and voters in the other four are considering medical marijuana use.

New polling in California has increased the proportion of voters who say they support Prop 64 by three points. In Massachusetts the proportion of supporters jumped from less than 50% to 62% in the most recent poll. In Nevada, no new poll results were reported this week. In Arizona, the latest poll shows a close vote in favor of legalization. In Maine, support dropped by three points.

Here’s a list of the latest polling numbers in the five states where voters will decide whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use, based on reports from Ballotpedia.

• Arizona (Proposition 205): 48% in favor; 47% opposed; 4% undecided
• California (Proposition 64): 58% in favor; 37% opposed; 5% undecided
• Maine (Question 1): 50% in favor; 41% opposed; 9% undecided
• Massachusetts (Question 4): 62% in favor; 33% opposed; 4% undecided
• Nevada (Question 2): 47% in favor; 43% opposed; 11% undecided

In states considering medical marijuana measures, a plurality of Arkansas voters now supports Issue 6.

In Florida, there was a slight dip in support last week for Amendment 2, making medical marijuana legal in the state. Because this is a constitutional amendment, 60% of voters must approve the measure. Just over 71% of Florida residents now support medical marijuana, down from 74%.

In Montana, medical marijuana was legalized in 2011, but the state legislature passed strict dispensary laws that were upheld by the state supreme court earlier this year and have effectively put dispensaries out of business. The last poll, in early October, shows supporters of making medical marijuana easier to get had 44% of the vote, compared with 51% for opponents. There has been no new polling in North Dakota in the past week.

• Arkansas (Issue 6): 50% in favor; 43% opposed; 5% undecided
• Florida (Amendment 2): 71.3% in favor; 21.6% opposed; 7.1% undecided
• Montana (I-182): 44% in favor; 51% oppose; 5% undecided
• North Dakota (Measure 5): no polling

The Big Winner on November 8 Could Be … Marijuana

With pot on the ballot in nine states, the big winner in next Tuesday’s election could be America’s legal cannabis industry. By 2020, legal market sales are expected to surpass $22 billion. And for states struggling with budget shortfalls, that extra revenue would be clearly welcome.

Voters in five states — Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada — will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. Medical marijuana is on the ballot in Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and North Dakota.

Supporters believe the marijuana measures will pass in California and Florida, and possibly several other states, because America’s attitude about pot has changed significantly in the last few years.

“It’s well established that the majority of Americans now believe that the responsible use of marijuana by adults should not be a criminal offense,” said Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Read more at NBC News.

Majority of NFL Players Say Medicinal Marijuana Would Reduce Use of Chemical Painkillers

A majority of NFL players feel that use of chemical painkillers would be reduced if the league allowed a therapeutic use exemption for marijuana use.

Although marijuana is legal for medicinal purposes in 23 states, and four others allow recreational use, it is one of eight banned drugs on the NFL’s list of substances of abuse. Positive tests for marijuana results in a violation of the league’s policy, and triggers disciplinary action that includes fines and suspensions.

“It’s legal where I live but not where I work,” one player said.

ESPN The Magazine surveyed 226 of the league’s nearly 3,000 players on active rosters or practice squads and found 61 percent in agreement that players would take fewer injections of strong anti-inflammatory drugs such as Toradol if they could treat pain legally with marijuana. Of the respondents, 64 percent said they had taken an injection of Toradol or another painkiller, many of which can have strong side effects including intestinal bleeding when administered over a long period of time.

Nearly 60 percent of players were worried about long-term effects of chemical painkillers and 42 percent responded that they believed they have had a teammate become addicted to them.

Read more at the San Jose Mercury News.

Investors Are Piling Into Marijuana Ahead of Legalization Ballots

With marijuana legalization measures on the ballot in nine states Tuesday, investment opportunities are attracting money from Wall Street, Silicon Valley and publicly traded companies.

Much of the new money is avoiding direct investment in marijuana cultivation and sales, which remain illegal under federal law. Instead of getting their hands “green,” new investors are putting their money into ancillary products, such as fertilizer, grow lights, software and payroll services.

Investors new to the sector said they are eager for a piece of a market that, by some estimates, will reach $50 billion over the next decade and are looking for ways to claim profits while minimizing legal risks.

Philadelphia sports empire scion Lindy Snider said she invested in startup Kind Financial, a firm that makes software to keep growers and retailers in compliance with shifting regulations. Silicon Valley angel investor Fulton Connor said he put money into a web marketplace linking growers and stores.

Read more at Fortune.

Japan’s War Against Medical Marijuana

Former actress Saya Takagi was arrested in Okinawa on Oct. 25 for possession of marijuana, three months after she unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the Upper House election on a platform to legalize pot for medical purposes. She insists the contraband was not hers.

Though Takagi, whose real name is Ikue Masudo, is retired from showbiz, reruns of dramas she appeared in are still shown on TV. When a celebrity is involved in a scandal, broadcasters scour their lineups for any ties to the disgraced person. TV Asahi quickly scrubbed from its afternoon schedule old episodes of the popular detective series “Aibo” that featured Takagi. Nikkan Gendai reported that DVDs containing films or shows featuring Takagi are being recalled, and a TV program is removing a theme song partly written by her.

Her demonization has intensified with the implication that she was living with two men, also arrested, as lovers, thus branding her as a woman of loose morals. The purpose is to feed a negative image, even if it’s just hearsay. The only facts that Gendai can corroborate are quotes from the police.

Gendai is a tabloid and “attack journalism” comes with the territory, but the rest of the media, even the major dailies, have taken its lead, including those that are nominally liberal. Asahi Shimbun mentioned the arrest without elaboration, but Tokyo Shimbun ran an in-depth story on Oct. 27 that cited Takagi’s claims of the benefits of medical marijuana, which are increasingly accepted in North America and Europe. While the article admits marijuana is “less addictive” than cocaine and heroin, it emphasized that it is still illegal in the eyes of the U.S. government and quotes a Japanese health ministry official as saying there is no “definition for medical use” of marijuana in Japan. A professor told the reporter that marijuana is a gateway drug to harder stuff — a cautionary cliche that is difficult to prove.

Read more at The Japan Times.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.