HOW MANY REPUBLICANS WERE IN THE SAMPLE POPULATION?

PHOENIX, July 15 – A majority of Arizonans are opposed to the legalization of marijuana, the Arizona Republican Party’s internal polling shows. (The AZGOP opposes recreational marijuana.) The poll found that 58 percent of likely voters would vote to oppose marijuana legalization efforts. Backed by the Washington, DC-based Marijuana Policy Project, the Campaign to Legalize Marijuana Like Alcohol has begun collecting signatures in an effort to put the question to a popular vote in 2016. The AZGOP poll shows that only 31 percent of voters would support the measure, while 11 percent said they are undecided. “Not only is this dangerous measure not going anywhere with the voters, the results show more than enough people have already made up their minds and that the undecideds won’t matter,” AZGOP Chairman Robert Graham said in a news release. Graham expressed confidence that “no amount of money is going to flip this issue around.” The poll also shows that 70 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of independents oppose legalization. Party officers, however, could not immediately provide key details of the poll, including which questions were asked and a breakdown of demographics, including respondents’ party affiliations. The AZGOP, for example, didn’t provide figures showing Democratic attitudes toward legalization. The poll, which was conducted on July 1 and July 2, surveyed 1,689 individuals and had margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 points. Chad Willems, a lobbyist for the Campaign to Legalize Marijuana Like Alcohol, said independent polling on marijuana in Arizona show far different results. “Independent groups have found significant support for making marijuana sales legal to adults,” Willems told our reporter. “In addition, support is strong after people understand [that] the initiative provides for a strongly regulated and highly taxed method of sale.” For example, a May poll conducted by the Behavior Research Center’s Rocky Mountain Poll found that 53 percent of Arizonans favor legalizing personal possession of marijuana in small amounts.