Abstract
Cannabis is commonly characterized as the most normalized illicit drug. However, it remains a prohibited substance in most parts of the world, including Europe, and users can still be subject to stigmatization. The objective of this study is to assess to what extent and how cannabis users in different countries with different cannabis policies perceive, experience and respond to stigmatization. We conducted a survey in the Dutch coffeeshops among 1225 last year cannabis users from seven European countries, with national cannabis policies ranging from relatively liberal to punitive. Three dimensions of cannabis-related stigma were investigated (discrimination, perceived devaluation and alienation) and a sum score was used to reflect the general level of stigmatization. Perceived devaluation was the highest-scoring dimension of stigma and discrimination the lowest-scoring. The general level of stigmatization was lowest in the Netherlands and highest in Greece. This indicates that punitive cannabis policy is associated with stigma and liberal cannabis policy is associated with de-stigmatization. Besides country, daily cannabis use was also found to be a significant predictor of stigma, but gender, age, household type and employment status were not.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 1483-1500 |
Journal | European Journal of Criminology |
Volume | 19 |
Issue number | 6 |
Early online date | 23 Dec 2020 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Nov 2022 |
Funding
We wish to thank Marie Agergaard, Elliott Bloem, Beatriz Carvahlo, Timothy Dörr, Alexandre Jeunet, Dinos Karakassis, Zofia Kostrzewa, Boris Pinksterboer, Lily Pitters, Mikhail Sivolap, Fedor Taggenbrock, Jaap Wallet and Niklas Zimmermann for their assistance in fieldwork and data-collection. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study is an extension to the IDPSO-project, conducted by a European consortium of the Católica Porto Business School (Portugal), Paris School of Economics, Université Paris I (France), MIPA (Italy) and Bonger Institute of Criminology, Law School, University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands). For the Dutch part, including the data-collection for this paper, a grant (# 63200000106) was received from ZonMw (the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development). The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study is an extension to the IDPSO-project, conducted by a European consortium of the Católica Porto Business School (Portugal), Paris School of Economics, Université Paris I (France), MIPA (Italy) and Bonger Institute of Criminology, Law School, University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands). For the Dutch part, including the data-collection for this paper, a grant (# 63200000106) was received from ZonMw (the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development).