Poll: Three-quarters of AZ Republican voters against marijuana legalization

PHOENIX — Almost three-quarters of likely 2018 Arizona Republican primary voters who responded to a poll said they were opposed to the legalization of recreational marijuana.

OH Predictive Insights found that 21 percent of the Republicans polled were in favor of legalization.

In 2016, a ballot measure to make marijuana legal was defeated at a narrow margin of 51.3 percent, only 67,000 votes.

Despite this close vote, chief pollster and managing partner Mike Noble said the law won’t change this November.

“Absolutely not in a midterm election, which is typically an older, more conservative, more consistent type of voter coming out for elections, so basically, recreational marijuana, you’re going to see come at us every four years,” he said. “Bet your buck that this will be tried again in 2020.”

Eight states, including California, Nevada and Colorado, have legalized recreational marijuana, according to Governing.com.

Arizona is one of 30 states that has legalized it in some medical form.

While Noble thinks it has a chance to pass in two years, a specific voter stands in the way of those who “push for kush.”

“If Trump-backers don’t get on board, the large core base of the Christian Conservatives will ensure that the Republican party will not be supporting legalization anytime soon,” he said.

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