Hoosier Survey Gauges Indiana Leanings

This Ball State University survey shows most Hoosiers oppose legalized marijuana, toll roads, and sports betting.

(Muncie, Ind.) - A Ball State University survey is giving insight into how Indiana residents feel about drugs, their state, taxes and other issues.

The Old National Bank/Ball State University Hoosier Survey shows 39 percent of respondents said marijuana should be legalized for personal use.

Forty-two percent believe it should be legal only for medicinal use. Only 16 percent believe pot should be legal at all, but just 16 percent also believe people should not serve any jail time for possessing small amounts.

“In considering drug problems in their community, Hoosiers seem to consider marijuana as fundamentally different than ‘hard’ street drugs, such a methamphetamine and heroin, or commonly abused prescription drugs, such as OxyContin,” said Charles Taylor, managing director of the Bowen Center for Public Affairs at Ball State, which conducts the annual public opinion survey.

“They not only rated marijuana as less serious than these other drugs, but even rate it as less serious than alcohol,” he said. “Given this view, it is not too surprising that a large percentage of Hoosiers are willing to see marijuana legalized, at least for medical purposes.”

The survey gives Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb a 53 percent approval rating, but only 15 percent of those asked disapprove of his job performance. The Indiana General Assembly’s approval rating is lower at just 42 percent, but the disapproval of only 24 percent is almost the lowest measured since 2008.

“In recent years, gubernatorial and legislative approval have tended to move together,” Taylor observed. “So, the drop in legislative approval is interesting when we compare it to Gov. Holcomb’s approval, which was virtually unchanged from last year. The legislature addresses so many issues in a session, that it is hard to say what might have led to the decline in approval. One possible explanation is what happened at the end of this year’s session. The clock ran out with important legislation remaining to be enacted and then they had to come back for a one-day special session.”

Other major findings in the Hoosier Survey include: 

• About 24 percent of Hoosiers rate the state as an excellent place to live, a decline from 2012, when 30 percent gave the state an excellent rating.
• Overall, 40 percent said that road maintenance had improved, compared to 18 percent that indicated it had worsened.
• For the first time in several years, more Hoosiers reported that the quality of their local schools had improved than reported it had worsened, by a margin of 23 to 19 percent.
• Satisfaction with the state’s job attraction efforts continues with 69 percent of Hoosiers approving. Satisfaction is lower, however, among Hoosiers in households with less than $30,000 annual income, at 64 percent, and higher among households with income greater than $75,000, at 74 percent.
• A solid majority of Hoosiers continues to approve of the 10-cent gas tax increase and associated increase in vehicle registration fees. Overall, 55 percent approve, compared to 38 percent who disapprove. The state’s proposal to toll interstate highways, however, is much less popular. About 1 in 5 Hoosiers approve of tolling interstates.
• About 72 percent of Hoosiers support increasing cigarette taxes; about 61 percent support increasing the smoking age to 21 years of age.
• Only 37 percent of Hoosiers favor legalized sports betting as a revenue source for the state, compared to 50 percent opposed.

The survey of 604 Indiana adults was conducted by telephone October 2nd through 22nd. The survey’s margin of error of 5.1 percent.