Most Ukrainians support medical cannabis legalization, according to the preliminary results of the national poll initiated by President Volodymyr Zelensky and conducted alongside the local elections on Oct. 25.
Zelensky’s Servant of the People party published the results on Oct. 26, stating that 74% of the polling results had already been counted. The current results show that nearly 65% of the surveyed people have supported legalizing cannabis for pain relief among severely ill patients.
Medical cannabis is used for treatment of and pain relief among patients with epilepsy, seizures, Alzheimer’s, cancer, mental health disorders and muscle spasms.
In Ukraine, possession of cannabis is a criminal offense. Veterans and human rights groups have long advocated for legalizing medical marijuana, which is already legal in most European countries.
Along with the question about cannabis, the poll surveyed people about their opinion on four other suggestions: creating a free economic zone in the war-torn Donbas, reducing the number of members of parliament from 450 to 300, introducing life-imprisonment for large-scale corruption, and enforcing the security assurances of the Budapest Memorandum.
All the questions have got support from Ukrainians taking part in the vote, the preliminary results show. The only question that showed mixed results was the one concerning the free economic zone in the Donbas: 46.7% approved it and 46.5% — disapproved.
Although the president’s party claims that some 5 million people participated in the vote, it has been criticized as an election technology that is unlikely to be representative as a survey.
The vote was initiated by the president but it won’t have any legal force.
In fact, the president’s poll has been criticized since Zelensky announced the very first question on Oct. 13 in a televised address to the nation. Announcing the poll and conducting it on the election day raised concerns of the poll being promotion for his Servant of the People party, which is illegal on election day.
Conducting a poll on election day is not illegal, as long as it is done outside of the voting premises, said Olga Aivazovska, chairman at the Opora election watchdog. Only if the poll contains covert campaigning, which can potentially influence the results of the vote, it can be deemed unlawful.
However, although the poll wasn’t itself illegal, Aivazovska believes it was an abuse of administrative resources by Zelensky. Its funding sources remain unclear. Opora estimates it cost about Hr 103 million.
Besides, experts warn that the results of the poll won’t be representative of the public’s true opinion. The poll took place only on 55% of polling stations in Ukraine, and the southern oblasts were covered the most, according to Aivazovska. And pollster Rating Group stated that the majority of those who participated in the poll were supporters of Zelensky’s Servant of the People.
Why those questions?
President’s Office promoted the idea of creating a free economic zone on the government-controlled parts of Donbas as a way to attract investors, as the region would enjoy special tax conditions and state control over the commercial activity. An increase in economic activity and accelerated economic growth would be an additional argument for those who live on occupied territories to support Ukraine, the office said in a statement on Oct. 15. However, it proved the most divisive of the president’s five questions.
The proposal to reduce the number of people’s deputies from 450 to 300 found the biggest support of the public: 90% said they supported the reduction. Zelensky submitted a draft bill proposing such changes back in August of 2019. Reducing the number of people’s deputies would require changing the Constitution. The draft bill received preliminary approval in February, but it is yet to be put out to a vote.
Nearly 83% of the poll participants showed support for a life-imprisonment for large-scale corruption. Zelensky has had a poor record on corruption. His appointee Iryna Venediktova, the prosecutor general, has been accused of hindering criminal proceedings against corrupt politicians. Among them are two lawmakers from Zelensky’s party, who were caught on bribes.
The question regarding the Budapest Memorandum also received strong support. Over 74% of the respondents backed Ukraine’s right to use the security guarantees established by the Budapest Memorandum for restoring its state sovereignty and territorial integrity.
When Ukraine signed the memorandum in 1994, it pledged to get rid of its nuclear arsenal, which was the third-largest in the world at the time. Other countries, including Russia, guaranteed the inviolability of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and borders.
The president’s question could be interpreted as a proposal to potentially include the U.S. and the U.K. into Donbas peace negotiations, now brokered by France and Germany within the so-called Normandy Format.
Zelensky could also be asking the public whether Ukraine should restore its nuclear weapons, ignoring its pledges under the Budapest Memorandum because Russia violated it when it annexed Crimea and invaded Donbas in 2014.
