Prohibition, Regulation or Free Market: A Mapping of Colombian People’s Perspectives Regarding National Drug Policies

Abstract

Colombian laypersons' perspectives regarding actual and potential drug policies were examined. Adults (N = 395) aged 18-68 and living in Bogota were presented with 24 vignettes that were composed according to two within-subject orthogonal factor designs: (a) Demand for drugs in the country 9 Current government policy regarding soft and hard drugs (from ''laissez faire'' policy for all drugs to complete prohibition of all drugs) and (b) Information campaigns regarding the dangerousness of drugs 9 Current policy. Participants rated the level of acceptability of each policy. Seven different perspectives were identified that can be grouped into five broad views. The first one (50 % of participants) was called ''radical constructionists'' because participants considered that all policies were unacceptable. The second one (19 %) was called ''cultural conservatives'' because only one drug policy was considered fully acceptable: complete prohibition (although half of the members of this group were willing to allow soft drugs to be sold freely). The third one (14 %) was called ''progressive prohibitionists'' because the preferred policies in this group were either complete prohibition or complete regulation by the government. The fourth one (8 %) was called ''free trade libertarians'' because the dominant opinion was that the drug market should be free. The last one (5 %) was called ''progressive advocates of legalization'' because the preferred policy in this group was complete regulation of all substances. In most cases, the presence of information campaigns was highly valued. Methodological implications and implications for decisionmakers are discussed.

Mapping Colombians’ positions on sentencing for substance offenses

“…For 6 % of the participants, mostly the youngest and least religious, even the sale of illicit substances, by an adult, at the school gates should not result in a very severe sentence. This finding is reminiscent of the one reported by López López and collaborators [ 21 ] that 8 % of respondents to a survey on substance control policies expressed the idea that the only acceptable policy is a free market policy. There is, of course, a substantial difference between a free-market policy and a policy of decriminalization of drugs.…”

“…Colombians’ positions on the severity of punishment in the various situations described in the vignettes are likely to be extremely varied. In a recent survey conducted in Bogotá on adults’ perspectives on possible drug control policies, no less than seven qualitatively different positions were identified [ 21 ]. The most common position (50% of participants) was that no control policy was adequate.…”

Addictive Substances, Users’ Health, and the Government’s Perceived Responsibility: French People’s Perspective

“…The method was inspired by previous studies of people's perceptions of complex health issues associated with illicit substance consumption (Camus et al 2014;López López et al 2015).…”

“…One of these studies was in France (Camus et al 2014) and the other in Colombia (López López et al 2015). Camus et al (2014) used a methodology of realistic scenarios that were created by orthogonally crossing the levels of three factors: (a) current level of demand for drugs (high vs. low), (b) information campaigns regarding the adverse health consequences of substance intake (absent vs. present), and (c) current state policy regarding hard and soft drugs, from complete prohibition of all substances-the cultural conservative view, to state regulation of soft drugs associated with strict prohibition of hard drugs-assimilated to the progressive prohibitionists' view, to complete ''laissez-faire'' for all substances-the libertarian view.…”

“…López López et al (2015) used a methodology that was similar to that of Camus et al (2014). They found evidence for the presence of Goode's five views among lay people in Colombia.…”