Does framing influence public support and willingness to fund harm reduction and liberal drug policies? Evidence from a survey experiment

In an era of evolving drug legislation, this study investigates the factors that influence public support, willingness to fund, and the amount people are willing to spend on harm reduction programs and liberal drug policies. By employing a full-factorial survey experiment administered to a national sample of Americans (n = 537), I estimate several regression models capturing how differences in policy framing influence public support and spending attitudes for various drug policies. Findings reveal the public is less supportive of funding heroin-assisted treatment, some evidence the public is more willing to fund syringe service programs over heroin-assisted treatment, and consistent evidence that a drug policy advocated by a police officer evokes greater funding support compared to a scientist promoting the same policy. The findings also show that drug policy framing only mattered for funding support and had little effect on public support and funding amount. Together, this study suggests that policymakers working to grow funding support for drug policy reform should utilize law enforcement who may be seen as credible messengers by the public.