From Taboo to Tolerance: Exploring the Complexities of Moral Judgments Toward Drug Use

Abstract

ABSTRACTFor decades, researchers have explored how the public morally evaluates various behaviors, including those such as drug use and others traditionally considered deviant. While research suggests that attributes of people who use drugs and respondent-level characteristics influence judgments of right and wrong, research has yet to fully examine this in an experimental setting. This study uses a survey experiment to explore the ways in which the public morally evaluates drug use and how these judgments vary depending on circumstances inherent to the scenario. Using a nationwide cross-sectional MTurk sample of Americans (N = 524), I estimate a series of regression models exploring how individual attributes, situational factors, and respondent-level characteristics predict moral judgments of drug use. Findings reveal the public holds significant variation in whether they view drug use as morally acceptable or not, and that user attributes, situational factors, and respondent-level characteristics all significantly influence this relationship. I conclude by situating my findings into the larger conversation of deviancy, drug stigma, and moral evaluations of drug use, and suggest areas for future research.