ARKANSANS SUPPORT MEDICAL MARIJUANA, WOMEN IN OFFICE AND HEALTH REFORM, INDICATES THIRD ANNUAL ARKANSAS POLL

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Results from the third annual Arkansas Poll indicate that a medical marijuana petition currently circulating through the state may have more public backing than expected. Additionally, health care reform and women in politics show strong statewide support, according to researchers at the University of Arkansas, who developed and analyzed the survey.

Conducted Oct. 8-17 by the UA Survey Research Center, the 2001 Arkansas Poll canvassed 767 Arkansans, gathering information on policy issues, quality of life and approval ratings for public officials. Key issues in this year’s poll included health reform, environmental policy, the role of women in politics and the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The latter issue provided the most surprising results of the survey - showing that the majority of Arkansans favored allowing patients to use marijuana if recommended by their doctor.

"This could certainly have an impact on public policy," said Janine Parry, assistant professor of political science and director of the poll. "Particularly because of the statewide petition to put a medical marijuana initiative on the next ballot."

While 63 percent of participants responded favorably to the legalization of marijuana for medical use, 32 percent indicated that they would not support such an action. The remaining five percent of respondents offered a conditional opinion, said they did not know or refused to answer the question.

Other key issues also yielded unexpected results. When asked if the United States would be governed better or worse with more women placed in public office, 44 percent of Arkansans stated that the nation would be governed better, and 33 percent believed it would make no difference. Only 15 percent felt that the nation would be governed worse.

Further, 79 percent foresaw a woman being elected governor of the state within the next 10 to 25 years - a particularly impressive result, according to Parry, since the U.S. has seen fewer than 20 female governors in its entire history. Equally impressive was the fact that 76 percent of Arkansans believed a woman would be elected president within the same span of time.

"As a researcher who studies women in politics, I find it encouraging that more than three-quarters of respondents thought more women in public office would improve or at least maintain our current quality of life," Parry said. "But it’s important to note that a substantial proportion of people still retain ideas about the issues a woman can handle as opposed to those that a man could."

Typically, women are rated high on their ability to manage care-giving issues such as social policies and health care, while men are considered more capable of handling budget issues and foreign relations. The Arkansas Poll results held true to these trends with one notable exception.

When asked how women would do balancing the federal budget, 28 percent of Arkansans felt women would do a better job than men - compared to only 11 percent who felt they would do worse. In fact, a total of 87 percent reported that women would balance the budget as well or better than men, representing a larger margin than is usually seen on this issue, according to Parry.

Turning from national issues to topics of statewide concern, UA researchers found that the majority of Arkansans (73 percent) felt the health care system needed some degree of reform. Of that group, 25 percent claimed it needed a major overhaul in order to serve the citizens of this state. To facilitate such reform, 74 percent said they would be willing to pay more taxes.

Such a result surprised the researchers in light of the fact that unemployment and the economy ranked among the top five concerns people had for the state. Responding to the open-ended question, "What do you consider the most pressing problem or issue facing people in Arkansas today?" 21 percent of those surveyed indicated they were concerned about unemployment and lack of jobs. Ranking next was war and terrorism with 13 percent; followed closely by education at 12 percent, then the economy with 10 percent. Health and medical insurance placed fifth on the list with four percent.

"The category of war and terrorism is new to the list, and it’s no surprise," explained Parry. "People are understandably nervous. But it didn’t displace the concerns we always see at the top - the economy, education, health and medical issues. Over the past three years, those have ranked consistently high."

Despite the fact that environmental concerns appeared fairly low on the list, results from the poll provided important additional information about the way Arkansans view environmental policy within the state. The survey showed that their most pressing concerns pertained to water contamination, air pollution and the handling of toxic waste.

Though most citizens (54 percent) trust political leaders to balance environmental protection with economic development, 53 percent feel that those leaders do not value their opinions when making important developmental decisions.

"People are concerned about their overall quality of life and in balancing economic development with conserving natural resources for future generations. As a result, they’d like politicians to be more responsive to their views when making developmental decisions," said Kenneth Hansen, assistant professor of political science.

"The findings also indicate that Arkansans may have a greater awareness and sophistication regarding environmental issues than is commonly assumed," Hansen added.

To obtain the 767 completed surveys that comprise the 2001 Arkansas Poll, the UA Survey Research Center placed nearly 6,000 calls to randomly selected telephone numbers throughout the state. Once cell phone numbers, disconnected lines, business establishments and the like were taken into consideration, the resulting cooperation rate equaled 31 percent. The survey’s margin of error is +/- 3 percent.

Demographic characteristics for those who answered the survey were largely consistent with those of the state as a whole, according to data from the 2000 Census. However, respondents to the survey rated slightly higher in education and income, and their median age (47 years) marginally exceeded the state median (36 years). Women represented 57 percent of participants. According to Parry, these minor discrepancies are not unusual for political polls.

"The patience and graciousness of our largely student pollsters are really witnessed in these figures," Parry said. "It’s tough to get younger, less educated folks to stay on the phone and talk about their political opinions. Our sample is as close to representative as any poll I’ve recently seen."

Results from the 1999, 2000 and 2001 Arkansas Polls are available on-line at http://plsc.uark.edu/arkpoll/