New Poll: Opposition To Medical Marijuana Grows

A new Talk Business-Hendrix College Poll of 868 likely Arkansas voters shows that attitudes toward a medicinal marijuana proposal have shifted.

In the latest poll, conducted Thursday, October 18, 54% of Arkansas voters said they now oppose the citizen-led initiative. Only 38% support the proposal and 8% are undecided.

In late July, the same question was asked of likely Arkansas voters with 47% saying they supported the measure and 46% opposing it.

Q. A proposal to allow the use of medical marijuana will also be on the ballot. It would provide Arkansans the ability to use medical marijuana for serious debilitating medical conditions with a doctors recommendation, and to allow patients to purchase their medicine at a regulated not-for-profit dispensary.  If the election were held today, would you vote to allow for medical marijuana sales?

38%  Yes
54%  No
8%   Don’t Know

“There has been a very effective earned media effort from law enforcement and conservative groups since this measure made the ballot, and I suspect it has been a contributor to moving these numbers from July,” said Talk Business executive editor Roby Brock.

“That said, I still think the final numbers on this measure are fluid and far from final. There appears to be a major paid media component underway by the supporters of medicinal marijuana in Arkansas. I do feel these numbers could shift back to a much closer outcome if the opponents do not partially match the pro-forces’ efforts,” Brock added.

POLL ANALYSIS
The cross-tabs of the poll results reveal that men and women are equally opposed to the medical marijuana proposal with 53% of both sexes against the measure.

Among ethnicity lines, Latinos support the proposal 50-39%, while Caucasian voters oppose it 53-38% and African-American voters oppose it 54%-38%.

By political affiliation, Democrats support medical marijuana 51-39%. Republican voters oppose the effort by a 71.5-23.5% margin, while Independents oppose 53-37%. Those claiming “other” political affiliations are split 47-47%.

POLL METHODOLOGY
This survey was conducted by Talk Business Research and Hendrix College on Thursday, October 18, 2012. The poll, which has a margin of error of +/-3.3%, was completed using IVR survey technology among 868 likely Arkansas voters statewide.

All media outlets are welcome to reprint, reproduce, or rebroadcast information from this poll with proper attribution to Talk Business and Hendrix College.

For interviews, contact Talk Business executive editor Roby Brock by email at [email protected].