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Staff Report
PARKERSBURG -- Less than half of West Virginians think the state is going in the right direction, but 90 percent support the new football coach at West Virginia University, a poll by Orion Strategies said.
The pollsters Tuesday released the second part of its most recent survey of opinions on various topics. On Monday, Orion said the poll found more than half of residents support the border wall and about half blame Democrats for the government shutdown.
"When asked about the direction that West Virginia is headed, 47 percent believe the state is going in the right direction while 29 percent believe it is not," said Graham Godwin, senior researcher for Orion Strategies.
The live-interview telephone poll was conducted among 310 likely voters on Jan. 12 and was proportionate to each of the three congressional districts. Cell phones and landline telephones were called in all 55 counties.
The poll was on a number of topics, including economic issues, teacher pay, the opioid epidemic and medical marijuana.
The survey found Gov. Jim Justice's State of the State speech was watched by 21 percent of the people polled. Of those who watched it, 55 percent were favorable, the survey said.
Thirty-one percent of the respondents said the greatest impact on why West Virginia lags economically behind the rest of the nation was the opioid drug epidemic facing the state. Sixteen percent blamed the reliance on fossil fuels, 10 percent said it was the lack of highways and a college-educated workforce followed by the state's aging population at 9 percent.
Four percent said the lack of broadband internet connectivity was a factor leading to the state's lagging economy, the survey said.
One in seven of those polled believes the opioid epidemic has improved over the last year while 31 percent believe it has worsened and 44 percent find it to be the same.
About two-thirds know someone suffering or who has suffered from addiction to oxycodone, heroin or other opioids, which is consistent with a similar survey conducted by Orion Strategies in early 2018.
"A supermajority of 68 percent of historic likely voters supports the legalization of marijuana for medicinal use when prescribed by a doctor," Godwin said. "Only one in four respondents is opposed."
The numbers are almost reverse on the issue of legalization of marijuana for recreational use by adults 21 and older where only 26 percent of respondents would support such an effort and 66 percent are opposed.
Sixty percent of the respondents believe teachers are paid too low in West Virginia. Twenty-nine percent feel teachers are paid the right amount and 5 percent believe they are overpaid.
When the same question was fielded regarding state employees, 46 percent believe civil servants are paid too low and 31 percent feel they are paid the right amount. Only 7 percent believe that state employees are overpaid, the survey said.
In football on a question about hiring of Neal Brown as the new head football coach at West Virginia University, 48 percent were unsure or do not follow the sport, but a 90 percent supermajority of those surveyed who do have an opinion of the hiring supports the coach.