Public attitudes towards people with drug dependence and people in recovery in Scotland

Background

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling issues relating to drug dependence in Scotland, through a range of policies across health, justice and social care. In order to inform an effective and proportionate response to the problem of stigma towards drug users in Scotland, the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Division commissioned Progressive to undertake research to provide up to date information about public attitudes in Scotland towards people with a history of drug dependence. This builds on previous research undertaken by the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC) in 2010.

Aims and objectives

The overall aim of the research was to provide data on the current extent and nature of stigma amongst the Scottish general public towards people with drug dependence and people who have recovered from drug dependence. Associated objectives were for the 2016 findings to be compared with those from the previous UKDPC study, and act as a baseline representative sample of Scottish public opinion in order to track changes in public attitudes over time.

Research method

The data was gathered by Progressive Partnership using the YouGov online omnibus survey. YouGov drew a sub-sample of its panel that was representative of Scottish adults in terms of age, gender and social class, and invited this sub-sample to complete the survey. Once the survey was complete, the final data were statistically weighted to the national profile of all adults aged 18+, based on age, gender, social class and region. The questionnaire is provided in Appendix 1. To ensure that respondents could give informed consent, and to reflect the sensitive nature of the research, all respondents were given the opportunity to opt out of this section of the omnibus. Those who completed it were also provided with website addresses for relevant support organisations in case they had been affected by, or wanted more information on the topic of drug dependence. In total, 1,114 questionnaires were completed, with a very low opt-out rate (2%). The final achieved sample for analysis (with opt outs removed) was 1,089.

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