Attitudes Toward Drug Decriminalisation: Favourability and Concerns, 2024

Motivated by an increase of drug decriminalisation and more liberal drug policy regimes globally, this research aimed to understand the attitudes present among the general public toward drug decriminalisation policy. This quantitative piece was underpinned by a combination of theoretical frameworks, namely Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory and Cohn et al's 1991 thesis. The paper aimed to assess if attitudes toward drug decriminalisation are demographically contingent while explaining the correlation between demographic and attitude using the theoretical framework. The survey found evidence to suggest attitudes toward drug decriminalisation is at least somewhat demographically contingent, with education level and political beliefs having the strongest correlation with favourability toward drug decriminalisation. The research used the abovementioned theoretical framework to suggest this correlation is present due to similar social environments found in each distinct demographic group, resulting in shared experiences and observations manifesting in demographically contingent attitudes toward drug decriminalisation and collective concerns about the policy in each demographic category. This data set tentatively suggests a need for policy analysis and public attitude analysis to rest heavier on the variable of demographics to understand the salience of identity in policy research.

Background: An increasing number of countries are moving away from the law-and-order framework of drug policy, with some opting for decriminalization or total legalization. Successive UK governments have seemingly been reluctant to follow these countries and shift to a more liberal legal framework. The research aims to understand if this reluctance mirrors public opinion while broadening the scope of the study and asking wider questions concerning the demographic- attitude relationship, penal populism and public engagement in the topic of drug policy. Methods: A nineteen-item online survey was distributed among participants from the UK. Inferential data was generated using Spearman’s Rho test of correlation before combining Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory with Cohn et al’s thesis to discuss and provide thematic meaning to the data. Results: There were weak correlations between the demographic variables and attitudes toward drug decriminalization with education and political stance having the strongest scores. Generally, there was a positive overall attitude toward drug decriminalization policy.