Poll says New Jersey residents want to smoke pot than bet online
ATLANTIC CITY – A survey done by a Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll found that 41% of the participants support smoking marijuana in free time for enjoyment if it became legal. This shows that only 32 percent individuals support gambling over the Internet which is legal in New Jersey.
The survey clearly showed that more residents of New Jersey want to smoke pot than bet online.
According to the survey, support for online betting has decreased even though more than 150,000 online gambling accounts have been set up in the state.
Poll director Krista Jenkins said, “The public’s attitude was, for several years, warming up to online gambling. But there has been a clear change in direction now that the practice has actually been legalized. Part of the public has always shown deep reluctance to make gambling so accessible in their own homes. Now that it is in fact legal, they may be more concerned than ever”.
On 21st of November, internet gambling started in New Jersey with a 5 day trial period and after that it was launched statewide on 26th of November. It took in nearly $8.4 million, through the end of the year.
The survey found that 57% residents were not in the favor of Internet gambling, which is 46% more from March 2013.
A senior lecturer of hospitality management at the university, Donald Hoover, said that the increased opposition may be a reflection of residents’ annoyance at heavy advertising from New Jersey casinos.
Those individuals who say that they visited a casino in the last 1 year are significantly in favor of online gambling. Almost 40% are in favor of it while 28% of those individuals who have not recently visited a casino do so.
As far as recreational marijuana is concerned, 80% of the voters have heard or read a lot of news about the states that have recently legalized the use of drug for the purpose of enjoyment.
According to Jenkins, “These numbers point to the possibility that fertile ground exists in the state for those looking to expand legalization beyond medicinal use. Policymakers will likely be watching for changes in public opinion as the percentage difference between those in favor and opposed gets closer to the 50/50 mark. Right now, however, a majority of the public remains opposed”.
From 20th of January to 26th of January, the survey of 734 registered voters in New Jersey was conducted by landline telephones and cellphones. It has a margin of error of 3.6%.
News Source: www.NJ.com