The Lines of Argumentation of Alcohol, Drug and Gambling Policies in Finland

Aims Alcohol, drugs and gambling are subject to governmental control policies and regulation. We have investigated how supporters of regulation/criminality of drug use and liberals advocating more lenient control provide arguments on the governmental control policies and regulation on addiction policies. Methods We organized three experiments in Helsinki, Finland, in 2023 on the argumentation on alcohol, drug and gambling policies. Altogether, 98 lay persons, mainly students at the University of Helsinki, participated in the experiments. As a method, we employed the imitation game, which can be used to measure how knowledgeable members of a social group are regarding the knowledge of another group. The method produces both quantitative and qualitative data. Results On drug policy, supporters and opponents of criminality of drug use were asymmetrically segregated. The opponents of criminality were in a minority and were more knowledgeable of the knowledge and beliefs of the majority supporting criminality. When it came to the alcohol and gambling policy fields, both supporters and opponents of regulation had more symmetrical relations. Conclusions The results can be used for addiction policies and anticipating emerging new lines of argumentation.