A majority of Arkansas voters support legalizing cannabis

Should Arkansas voters be given the opportunity to vote on cannabis legalization later this year, a new poll suggests the proposal may have enough support to pass.

The latest edition of the Talk Business & Politics-Hendrix College poll found that 53.5 percent of its registered voters believe cannabis should be legal for adults 21 and over. Thirty-two percent said cannabis should only be legal for medicinal purposes, while just 10.5 percent said it should be largely illegal for some reason.

dr Jay Barth, a politics professor emeritus at Hendrix College who helped organize the poll, said that “perhaps no issue has shown more movement in our time with the poll than Arkansans’ stance on marijuana legalization,” noting, that the shift in attitudes coincides with two separate efforts to legalize medicinal cannabis in the state.

“After a 2012 attempt to legalize medical marijuana failed at the ballot box, Arkansas voters narrowly approved a revised proposal in 2016. While it took longer than expected to get the marijuana bureaucracy in place — including certified growers and dispensaries — Arkansans have been adjusting to the presence of visible, legal marijuana in the state. The question now is whether it’s time for the next big step: legalizing regulated adult-use marijuana in the state. Our poll suggests that Arkansas voters may be ready to take that step,” Barth said in his analysis of the poll results.

The results should be encouraging for a group trying to put a constitutional amendment legalizing recreational marijuana in Arkansas on the state ballot in November.

The group, known as Responsible Growth Arkansas, was formed in the fall under the leadership of Eddie Armstrong, a former Democratic state legislator.

Armstrong’s campaign joins a separate effort by a group called Arkansas True Grass to also get a legalization proposal for this year’s vote.

For the measures to qualify for a vote, proponents must collect at least 89,151 signatures from registered voters — equivalent to 10 percent of the number of ballots submitted in the 2018 election.

Sales officially began in 2019 after voters approved a measure to legalize medical cannabis in 2016. A year later, the state had sold more than $50 million in medical marijuana.

Barth entered the poll’s crosstabs, released Tuesday, and said, “While a slim majority of state voters support recreational marijuana, there are differences among major constituencies, although there is a growing consensus against criminalizing the drug.” gives.”

“Even among Republican voters, who are most opposed to legalization altogether, eight in 10 support either medical marijuana or recreational marijuana. While a majority of Republicans support eliminating medical marijuana as a state policy, very healthy majorities of Democrats (71%) and independents (64%) support recreational marijuana. This could put Republican statewide candidates in a difficult position as they try to appeal to voters outside of their party while maintaining their GOP base when the issue comes before voters in the fall,” Barth said.

He continued: “Apart from the political party, the biggest differences are between the age groups. While seven in 10 voters under the age of 45 support recreational cannabis and a slim majority of those aged 45-64 support the change, a majority of voters over the age of 65 believe that keeping the current legalization of medical-only cannabis is the right place for the politics of the state. Men are also more supportive of recreational cannabis, while women are more supportive of medicinal cannabis.”