The Australian Drug Foundation in conjunction with Uniting’s Fair Treatment campaign and the New Zealand Drug Foundation commissioned Common Cause to identify messaging that is most likely to move attitudes in favour of less stigmatising and less harmful drug policy.
Dr Mark Cherney, who established Common Cause, presented his research on a webinar.
In market testing of the impact of messaging to 1500 people, Common Cause demonstrated the capacity of careful messaging to move a large persuadable population in favour of more humane, less harmful drug policy.
This message guide has been written for people who talk about drugs and drugs policy in Australia, including those who use drugs themselves, and are concerned about the high levels of stigma associated with the issue.
Whether you work in a drug treatment service or are lobbying for drug policy reform, the recommendations in this guide should prove useful to you in both reducing discriminatory attitudes and behaviours towards people who use drugs, while boosting public support for policy reform and increased funding for drug treatment.