Iowans are increasingly supportive of medical marijuana, according to a Feb. 15, 2017, article in the Des Moines Register.

A new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll found 80 percent of adult Iowans approve of medical marijuana legalization.

Iowa has a medical marijuana program, but it only allows people with epilepsy to use low-THC marijuana oil—and that program will expire during the summer of 2017. State legislators are now deciding whether to keep or expand the program.

The 80 percent approval number represents not only a large majority of Iowa voters, but also steady growth in pro-medical marijuana opinions. Only 58 percent approved in 2013, but by 2016, support for medical marijuana legalization had jumped to 78 percent.

Other findings from the poll include:

• 88 percent of young adults support medical marijuana legalization, along with 67 percent of senior citizens.
• 76 percent of the state’s Protestants, 79 percent of its Catholics and 91 percent of its religiously unaffiliated support medical marijuana.
• Medical marijuana views differ along political party lines, with support from 66 percent of Republicans, 87 percent of Democrats and 82 percent of Independents.
• 39 percent of Iowa’s adults support legalization of recreational marijuana, up from 29 percent in 2013.