* ¯\_(ツ)_/¯…

* I took a polite pass on this poll yesterday…

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: A solid majority of Illinois residents favor legalizing recreational marijuana, a new poll has found.

According to Tulchin Research, 65 percent of downstate voters support legalization, compared to 33 percent who oppose. The numbers are similar in western Illinois (64 percent favor, 32 percent oppose) and in northern Illinois (61 percent favor, 36 percent oppose).

The poll surveyed 600 voters across three regions of swing state legislative districts. Downstate polling was done in state House Districts 76 and 112, western polling in state House Districts 45, 48, and 49. Northern House Districts 51, 53, 61 and 62 also were surveyed. Representatives of those districts are all Democrats: Lance Yednock (76th), Katie Stuart (112th), Diane Pappas (45th), Terra Costa Howard (48th), Karina Villa (49th), Mary Edly-Allen (51st), Mark Walker (53rd), Joyce Mason (61st) and Sam Yingling (62nd).

“Our polling finds that legalizing, regulating, and taxing marijuana is backed by wide margins across all three of these regions and that majorities in each region would be more likely to vote for a state legislative candidate who backs legalization,” the poll memo states.

First of all, it’s totally false to claim the poll shows “A solid majority of Illinois residents” favor anything. It says no such thing and the pollster himself does not even make this claim. The poll also doesn’t show regional sentiment. The above story is a complete misreading of the actual results.

This is not a statewide poll. It’s a survey of 600 people scattered over nine of 118 House districts divided into three regions of 200 respondents each. Those four “Northern” districts would have just 50 respondents per district. I just didn’t think it provided worthwhile numbers, so I passed.

* Related…

* If Pot is Legalized in Illinois, What Happens to Medical Marijuana?: “Why would we keep a medical program, if there’s a recreational source around and you could skip seeing the doctor and just go get it yourself? It’s that you’ll miss out on the monitoring with one’s other medications, for instance,” said Dr. Leslie Mendoza Temple, a physician in Glenview who chaired the state government’s now-disbanded Medical Marijuana Advisory Board. “We would want to be sure we’re monitoring for abuse, toxicity. And you wouldn’t have those checks in place if one were just using it without kind of any medical supervision, if you’re using it for medical purposes.”

* Report: Michigan recreational pot market to rival Colorado’s