Data Visualization: Marijuana in Maine

I’m taking some Coursera courses on Data Visualization using Tableau and decided I need to practice. So I made some things, I’ll probably try to do one project or so per week. I’m sure someone else has made something similar to what I have but it was fun to track down the date and create it myself.

The following map displays how different counties voted on Question 1 to legalize recreational marijuana. Green counties had over 50% support and red counties had less than 50% support. I couldn’t figure out how to get Tableau to display the numbers as a percentage instead of a decimal (it keeps converting percentage to text… whatever, I’ll figure it out).

The following graph looks at Median Household Income, Support for Marijuana Legalization, and color codes each county by which Presidential candidate won the majority in that county. As you can see, there seems to be a correlation between a high median household income, increased support for marijuana legalization, and voting for Clinton. I also compared median age, percent of the population over 60, and how white the county was (Maine is SUPER white… like, unbelievably so), but none of those data points seemed to correlate.

So, curious about some data that you’d like to see visualized? Shoot me a message, I’m always looking for new projects. Until then, I’m going to keep tweaking this to make it more aesthetic and play with other data.

Birthday Wishes

This upcoming Sunday is my birthday, but because I am a (barely functional) adult I don’t really need much, but there are lots of organizations out there that do. So, for my birthday I hope you all will considering what you can to one of these amazing organizations. Liberty, ending the drug war, medicinal research, and ending rape are four of my passions and these organizations are on the frontlines. Every dollar helps.

Men Can Stop Rape: This organization is working to change the narrative around rape and end rape culture by mobilizing men to use their strength to protect, not harm. Check them out and see if they fit what you want in the world, if so, please donate.

Students For Liberty (SFL): As an international education based non-profit SFL is having a global impact for liberty. They provide resources and training for college students who are interested in a free society. Check them out at their website and if you like what they are doing you can donate here.

Students For Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP): SSDP is an international organization that works to educate and mobilize students to change the policies in their country. They value sensible policies of harm prevention, instead of incarceration, for narcotics use. They are doing many things that could use some financial support.

Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS): MAPS continues to do great work in search of medicinal uses for a wide range of stigmatized drugs like marijuana, LSD, and MDMA. They focus on clinical research, as well as providing educational harm prevention materials. I really believe that what they do will have a huge impact on the treatment of a variety of issues that face society, but they need help to keep going.

If you really want to throw something my way though, I am accepting support for my upcoming bicycle ride via paypal.