An Exploration of the Connections Between Political Attitudes and Drug Use

Live Poster Session: https://wesleyan.zoom.us/j/98375876138

Eleanor Van Evera

Eleanor Van Evera is currently a Junior at Wesleyan University majoring in Sociology. She is originally from Lexington, Massachusetts, and attended Lexington High School before moving to Middletown. When she is not working or studying, Eleanor spends most of her time figure skating, which she has done competitively for twelve years. She is also very interested in public policy and social and political engagement, which is why her project this semester is focused on analyzing connections between a person’s history of drug use and their political beliefs and level of interest in politics, particularly when considering other aspects of that individual’s identity.

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Abstract: This project aims to explore and further analyze associations between an individual’s history of drug use, specifically crack cocaine and substances injected via needles, and their experiences engaging with politics, including their political beliefs, identification with a political party, and their overall level of optimism/cynicism about the American political process. The relationship between these variables is significant because of the extent to which addiction, substance abuse, and rehabilitation have been politicized in the past several decades in the U.S. and globally, with opinions regarding the treatment and value of drug users often being heavily partisan. However, despite the vastly differing attitudes between people of different political affiliations related to the decriminalization (and sometimes legalization) of drugs, the political beliefs and associations held by drug users themselves is a topic which has yet to be deeply examined. The data collected in this study ultimately revealed that crack users are significantly less likely than others to feel optimistic about the current political process and American politicians, however, they were also more likely to seek information on political websites than those who have not used crack.

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