Maryland voters resoundingly approved legalizing recreational marijuana but are divided over the impact as recreational use approaches the one-year mark, according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll.
The results illuminate heated local debates over where cannabis businesses can open up shop. The poll found that 50 percent of voters oppose allowing a marijuana dispensary or store to open in their community, including 35 percent who are “strongly” opposed.
That reluctance is most pronounced in Prince George’s County, where the number opposed is nearly 3 in 5 in a remarkable demonstration of legalization’s complexities. Supporting entrepreneurs in this affluent majority-Black suburb of Washington was exactly what lawmakers seeking to boost social equity envisioned when they pitched expanding the state’s medical marijuana market.
“Given the relatively small percentage of people who have bought cannabis products, I’m not surprised that support for dispensaries in one’s community is at or below 50 percent,” said Michael Hanmer, a University of Maryland political science professor and director of the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement, which conducted the poll with The Post.
About 1 in 7 voters reported purchasing cannabis products since they became legally available July 1, participating in a green rush that yielded roughly $332 million in retail sales in the first six months. Among voters who haven’t bought cannabis in the state, 89 percent say they are unlikely to do so in the next few years.
Opinions on the impact of legalization vary significantly by party affiliation, with 47 percent of registered Republicans saying legalization has been bad for Maryland. A smaller 27 percent of registered Democrats and 24 percent of independent voters said the same in The Post-UMD poll conducted with a random sample of 1,004 registered Maryland voters March 5-12.
For registered Republican Jennifer Orsborne, 57, the issue is deeply personal. Orsborne, a pediatric dental assistant, changed her mind about the substance after enduring extreme nausea brought on by treatment for breast and uterine cancer.
Medical cannabis was one of the few things that brought her relief: “It allowed me to eat,” she said. “It allowed me to sleep.”
When she cast her ballot in 2022, Orsborne thought about the hoops she jumped through to get a medical card in 2019, including footing a $400 bill. “When you’re going through something like that, everything is difficult,” she said. “All I wanted was an easy path, and it wasn’t easy.”
The threat of people abusing marijuana has remained a concern, but Orsborne, a widow of Montgomery County police officer, said she trusts law enforcement to respond.
On the road to legalizing recreational cannabis sales, Maryland had to confront its history of disproportionately arresting and imprisoning Black men on cannabis-related charges and address the dearth of minority-owned businesses in the state’s medical marijuana market.
Last year, the general assembly developed a path for supporting woman- and minority-owned businesses seeking to find a foothold in the competitive industry. While medical businesses had an advantage in the transition to retail, the state reserved the first round of new recreational licenses for people from Zip codes that were disproportionately harmed by the war on drugs.
The effort drew in a diverse pool of applicants, who participated in a lottery for cannabis licenses last week.
Alfonzo Daniels, 53, a registered nurse who lives in Upper Marlboro in Prince George’s County, does not use cannabis himself but said he believes legalization has been good for Maryland because Black men can use and enjoy the drug without being accosted or arrested.
An American Civil Liberties Union study found that between 2010 and 2018, Black people were arrested at 3.64 times the rate of White people nationally for having marijuana, even though Black and White people use marijuana at similar rates. In Maryland, the ACLU found, Black people were more than 2.1 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than White people.
Since the change in state law, Daniels said people in his community have not had to worry about minor cannabis arrests or unnecessary encounters with police.
“Through barbershop talk, as we say, there has been nobody I know who has had a problem with it or been arrested,” he said. “So, that’s a good thing.”
Still, Daniels said he doesn’t want a dispensary opening near his home.
That’s exactly what some Prince George’s County Council members have worked to control with legislation that would relegate dispensaries to specific zoned areas and within a certain distance of alcohol sellers.
Their efforts prompted state lawmakers to propose legislation that would curtail local control over the businesses. The bill — pitched as an equity measure — has passed the Maryland House of Delegates and cleared a state Senate committee, signaling a path to passage.
Orsborne said she is slightly reluctant to embrace a dispensary in her neighborhood because there are so many schools within a short distance from one another. Dispensaries could be a target for robbery even with good security measures in place, she said.
Independent Jerel Buttram, 42, who voted against legalization in Maryland, echoed some of Orsborne’s concerns. A delivery driver, Buttram said more dispensaries could attract crime and possibly lead to an increase in impaired driving.
“[Intoxicated] people have bad judgment,” he said.
A 2018 study of crime near dispensaries in the District found that opening a medical cannabis dispensary did not increase crime in the surrounding area, though it did not look at the effects of dispensaries that sell to the general public.
According to the poll, the percentage of Maryland voters who bought a cannabis product since legalization is similar to the 20 percent of Maryland adults who reported using marijuana before recreational use was legalized, according to the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Like many other Marylanders, Daniels said one of the primary reasons he supports legalization is so people will have easier access to cannabis for medical reasons.
“If I get glaucoma, I’ll be first in line,” Daniels said.
Army veteran Sala Danboise, 49, also supports access for medicinal purposes. She hasn’t bought cannabis since it became legal because her fibromyalgia care is federally subsidized. Her local veterans affairs hospital doesn’t support its usage, and she doesn’t want to risk her current treatment.
Danboise said she would be fine with a dispensary moving near her, especially if it helped people access cannabis for pain management. “I support it as a need,” she said.
The poll was conducted by The Post and the University of Maryland’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement. Overall results have a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points. Interviews were conducted by live callers on cellphones, landlines and online through a cellphone text invitation.
Emily Guskin and Sonia Vargas contributed to this report.
