Support for Legal Weed Rising Among Key Demographic: Women

Women increasingly support legalizing recreational marijuana use in Oregon, according to a new poll commissioned by WW news partner KATU. 

While the overall support remains about 51 percent in the survey of 564 likely voters, the New Approach campaign has effectively bumped up the percent of women who support the measure from 44 to 50 percent. 

"The single determinant of legalization are women," says Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "If 47 percent or less don’t want it, it won’t happen."

Women were the deciding factor in a failed 2010 California measure, leading campaigns in Colorado and Washington State to focus its messaging on women and particularly mothers, says St. Pierre.

Oregon's numbers show only 44 percent of women in a June poll supported legalization, but in the past two months that number has jumped by 6 points. 

New Approach Oregon, the campaign leading the effort to legalize weed in the sate, did not return a call seeking comment.  The survey, conducted Aug. 1 to Aug 5. has a margin of error of about 4.2 percent.  

Here's a look at the poll this month compared to the poll in June:

 The June numbers: