Premium
Public opinion and drug policy in A ustralia: Engaging the ‘affected community’
Author(s) -
Lancaster Kari,
Ritter Alison,
Stafford Jennifer
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
drug and alcohol review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.018
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1465-3362
pISSN - 0959-5236
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-3362.2012.00497.x
Subject(s) - harm reduction , harm , sample (material) , drug , population , public economics , illicit drug , public policy , heroin , public relations , medicine , political science , psychology , business , public health , environmental health , social psychology , psychiatry , nursing , economics , law , chemistry , chromatography
Policy should be informed by the people it directly affects; however, the voices of people who use illicit drugs have been marginalised from drug policy debate. In A ustralia, the majority of survey data regarding attitudes to drug policy are collected at the population level and the opinions of people who inject drugs remain underexplored. This study aimed to investigate how people who inject drugs perceive drug policy in A ustralia and whether these opinions differ from those of the broader general population. Methods Drug‐related policy questions were drawn from the N ational D rug S trategy H ousehold S urvey ( NDSHS ) and added to the 2011 I llicit D rug R eporting S ystem ( IDRS ) Survey (n = 868). The results were analysed for the full IDRS sample and by recent drug use. IDRS responses were compared with the general population using the 2010 NDSHS . Results There was a high level of support among IDRS participants for measures to reduce the problems associated with heroin, but heterogeneity in levels of support for legalisation and penalties for sale/supply across different drug types. Differences between the opinions of the IDRS sample and the NDSHS sample were identified regarding support for harm reduction, treatment, legalisation and penalties for sale/supply. Discussion These findings provide a springboard for further investigation of the attitudes of people who use illicit drugs towards drug policy in A ustralia, and challenge us to conceptualise how the opinions of this community should be solicited, heard and balanced in drug policy processes.