Political Responses to Opioid Addiction: Prioritizing Opioids or Addiction?

• In Event: Poster Session: Science, Technology, and Environmental Politics & Health Politics and Health Policy
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Health Politics & Policy: Opioid Politics in the United States

Abstract

Public attitudes and drug policy have transformed in the wake of staggering loss of life and prosperity associated with opioid addiction. These changes are often attributed to the racial, socioeconomic, and geographic profile of those effected by the epidemic, as well as the perceived culpability of physicians, pharmaceutical executives, and regulators. Comparisons to past eras and epidemics are instructive, but leave conflicting predictions regarding the future of drug policy. With ongoing efforts to combat opioid addiction in the collective consciousness, how will public opinion react to changing drug use trends? Motivated by the recent increase in overdose deaths involving cocaine and methamphetamine, this study compares public perceptions of illegal opioid, cocaine, and methamphetamine use. It further explores the relationship between public perceptions and drug policy preferences using novel survey measures and informational experiments. Results offer a new lens through with to understand the rapidly evolving political terrain of addiction prevention, treatment, and criminalization.

Author

• Lilla Orr, Stanford University