Replication Data for \"From Social Proximity to Policy Preferences: Contact with Drug Market Participants and Citizens’ Attitudes Toward Drug Policy.\"

The negative externalities of the global “war on drugs”—including violence, militarization, mass incarceration, and human rights violations—have sparked an intense debate over drug prohibition and legalization. Public opinion, particularly in regions most affected by drug-related violence, plays a pivotal role in shaping policy decisions, as it can either reinforce the status quo or push policymakers toward reform. In this context, it remains unclear whether citizens’ proximity to drug market participants fosters prohibitive attitudes and alleviate fears that legalizing drugs —and thus increasing consumer and non-consumer contact—could trigger significant public backlash. This study contributes to intergroup contact theory by extending its application to the understudied domain of drug policy and offering new insights into how social and environmental factors shape public opinion.

全球“禁毒战争”所带来的负外部性（negative externalities）——涵盖暴力冲突、军事化、大规模监禁与人权侵犯等问题——掀起了围绕毒品禁控与合法化的激烈论战。公众舆论，尤其是在受毒品相关暴力影响最严重的地区的公众舆论，对政策制定扮演着至关重要的角色：它既可以维系既有政策格局，也能推动政策制定者推进改革举措。在此背景下，目前尚无定论的是，民众与毒品市场参与者的近距离接触，是否会同时催生其支持毒品禁控的态度，并消解民众对“毒品合法化（进而扩大消费者与非消费者之间的接触）可能引发大规模公众反对声浪”的疑虑。本研究将群际接触理论（Intergroup Contact Theory）拓展至尚未得到充分探讨的毒品政策领域，并就社会与环境因素如何塑造公众舆论提供了全新的研究视角，从而丰富了该理论的应用范畴。