Does ‘Moral Reframing’ Impact Support for Supervised Drug Consumption Facilities in the UK? An Experimental Vignette Study

Abstract

The provision of supervised drug consumption facilities (SDCF) is a recent development in the United Kingdom (UK). The only currently operating facility opened in Glasgow in 2025. It has attracted extensive media and political scrutiny, often framed in moral terms. This experimental vignette study examined the role of moral judgements in UK debates on SDCF provision through the lens of Moral Foundations Theory (MFT). We undertook a cross-sectional online experimental study with a randomised factorial design. Participants (N=1,506; 52% female; mean age 47±16 years) were randomly assigned one of seven short vignettes. Six made an argument in favour of SDCF provision, framed around one of the six moral foundations identified in the Moral Foundations Questionnaire, Version 2 (MFQ-2). One provided a neutral description of SDCFs. Participants then answered two questions on support for SDCF provision either (a) in the UK or (b) in their local area. Across all groups, support for SDCF provision somewhere in the UK was broadly positive. However, exposure to different message frames was not associated with differences in level of support. In contrast, only participants exposed to the care/harm framing vignette showed support for an SDCF in their own neighbourhood. Furthermore, MFQ-2 scores showed only limited associations with support: specifically, orientation towards the care/harm foundation predicted greater support for local provision. Our findings suggest that moral framing may have limited persuasive effect when policy proposals are hypothetical or abstract, but that some types of moral considerations may become more salient as interventions are concretised in local contexts. The findings raise questions about the extent to which MFQ scores predict opinions on specific drug policy issues and invite further research on the role of emotional salience in shaping public responses to drug policy proposals.