POLL GAUGES ARKANSANS' STAND ON VARIOUS ISSUES

Researchers Say Arkansans Support Medical Marijuana, Women In Office,
Health Care Reform

Researchers at the University of Arkansas say results from the third annual
Arkansas Poll show Arkansans support medical marijuana, women in office and
health care reform.

The poll was conducted Oct. 8-17 by the UA Survey Research Center and
canvassed 767 Arkansans. It gathered 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 issue of medicinal marijuana provided the most surprising survey
results. A majority of Arkansans favored allowing patients to use marijuana
if it was recommended by their doctor.

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

The survey showed that 63 percent of participants responded favorably to
the legalization of marijuana for medical use while 32 percent indicated
they would not support such action. The remaining 5 percent offered a
conditional option, saying they did not know or refused to answer the question.

Other key issues yielded unexpected results as well.

When asked if the United States would be governed better or worse with more
women in public office, 44 percent believed the nation would be governed
better and 33 percent said it wouldn't make a difference. Only 15 percent
believed the nation would be governed worse.

Further questioning showed 79 percent seeing a woman being elected governor
within the next 10 to 25 years. Parry said this was a particularly
impressive result since the United States has seen fewer than 20 female
governors in its entire history. Equally impressive was 76 percent of
Arkansans believed a woman would be elected president within the same timespan.

"As a researcher who studies 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. "It
is important to note a substantial proportion of people still retain the
ideas about the issues a woman can handle as opposed to those 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 those trends with one notable exception. When
asked how women would do balancing the federal budget, 28 percent felt
women would do a better job than men compared to 11 percent who felt they
would do worse.

"A total of 87 percent stated women would balance the budget as well or
better than men. This represents a larger margin than what is usually seen
on this issue," Parry said.

On topics of statewide concern, UA researchers found the majority of
Arkansans, 73 percent, believed 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. Seventy-four percent said they
would be willing to pay more taxes to facilitate such reform.

This result surprised researchers because unemployment and the economy were
among the top five concerns people had for the state.

In responding to the open-ended question as to what Arkansans believed was
the most pressing problem or issue facing the state today, 21 percent said
unemployment and lack of jobs; 13 percent said war and terrorism; 12
percent said education and 10 percent said the economy. Health and medical
insurance ranked fifth on the list with 4 percent.

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

Despite the fact 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
their most pressing concerns were water contamination, air pollution and
handling toxic waste.

Most citizens, 54 percent, trust political leaders to balance environmental
protection with economic development. Fifty-three percent believe 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 and as a result they'd like politicians to be more responsive
to their views when making developmental decisions," said Kenneth Hansen,
UA assistant professor of political science. "The findings also indicate
many Arkansans may have a greater awareness and sophistication regarding
environmental issues than is commonly assumed."

The UA Survey Research Center placed nearly 6,000 calls to randomly
selected telephone numbers throughout the state to obtain the 767 completed
surveys that comprise the 2001 Arkansas Poll.

Once cell phone numbers, disconnected lines, business establishments and
the like were taken into consideration, the resulting cooperation rate
equaled 31 percent, Parry said. The survey's margin of error is plus/minus
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.
These minor discrepancies are not unusual for political polls, Parry said.

Results from the Arkansas Poll are available online at plsc.uark.edu/arkpoll.