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

This study examined the extent to which people think that the government is directly implicated each time an addictive substance user’s health deteriorates. Eighty stories were composed according to a five within-subject orthogonal design: (a) scientific evidence available, (b) time since first concerns with substance dangerousness, (c) personal susceptibility, (d) level of consumption, and (c) current state policy regarding the substance: no information campaign and free market, no information campaign and state monopoly; information campaigns and free market, information campaigns and state monopoly; information campaigns and complete prohibition. Participants (236 adults aged 18–86) were asked to rate, in each case, the level of the government’s responsibility. Participants associated user’s health and government responsibility: It is only in the case of total prohibition that the government is perceived as relieved from any responsibility. Leftists tend to attribute more responsibility to the government than rightists, and rightists are more sensitive to scientific evidence than leftists. As long as citizens attribute heavy responsibility to the state’s government for any health problem encountered by substance users, the government will not have any other choice than to stick to the most conservative policies.