The respected Boise State University Public Policy survey, a statewide poll that's been conducted in the state for more than 20 years, yielded a surprising result Tuesday: 74 percent support for allowing "terminally and seriously ill patients to use and purchase marijuana for medical purposes." Just 23 percent said "no" to that in the statewide survey, and 3 percent said they didn't know.

State Rep. Tom Trail, R-Moscow, who has pending legislation to legalize medical marijuana in Idaho in precisely those situations, said, "I"m not surprised at all, because in similar states out here in the west, the results are 65 to 75 percent (in favor), as long as you focus, like we have, very narrowly on medical marijuana for folks who are in excruciating pain with long-term diseases."

The statewide survey queried adults in 525 randomly selected Idaho households, included cell phone as well as land-line respondents, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent. It also asked how strongly Idahoans agreed that the state "should allow the sale and manufacture of marijuana for medical purposes." Those results were less overwhelming, with 46 percent agreeing and 46 percent disagreeing; you can read my full story here at spokesman.com.