Media Does Not Incite Drug Use: Study

[grace]

The media does not incite drug use but makes young people more aware of the risks and less likely to experiment, an Australian study has found.

 

Stories with drugs as a central theme have a potent deterrent effect within the community, the research found, though there should be more focus on the harmful effects of use rather than legal ramifications.

 

"It is commonly assumed that news media can incite drug use," said Dr Caitlin Hughes, a research fellow at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at the University of NSW.

 

"Our research has found the opposite is the case (as) most media portrayals appear to reduce interest in illicit drugs, at least in the short term.

 

"They increase perceptions of risk, reduce perceptions of acceptability and reduce the reported likelihood of future drug use."

 

The research assessed the reactions of more than 2,000 young people, aged 16 to 24, to an array of stories about cannabis or ecstasy.

 

Stories which evoked the strongest deterrent effect were those focused on the drug-related health and social issues - such as those pointing to overdose or evidence linking cannabis use to psychosis - rather than stories focused on the arrest of people involved in the drug trade.

 

Yet the research, which also analysed 4,000 different drug-related reports from newspapers based in Australia's major cities, found less than a quarter (24 per cent) of the stories highlighted the health or social problems associated with drug use.

 

Tabloid newspapers were more likely to focus on legal aspects, offering a weaker deterrent to the community, than articles in the broadsheet press.

 

Dr Hughes said a common reaction from young people to legal-themed drug stories was, "another drug bust ... oh, who cares, it just happens so often".

 

"Our results clearly show there is an opportunity to better harness the media to shape young people's attitudes to illicit drug use," Dr Hughes said.

 

"We are not saying news media is a silver bullet in drug prevention, but given news media is so pervasive we do think it ought to be recognised ... as a potentially powerful tool for preventing illicit drug use."

 

The research also showed stories on ecstasy had a stronger deterrent effect among young people than stories on cannabis.

 

Young people who had never used drugs were more likely to be deterred than current users, while young women were more likely to be deterred than young men.

 

Date: 27 Septmber 2010

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/27/3022831.htm

[headstone]

lmfao news stories about drugs have the opposite effect on me. Usually it'll go something like "bunker filled with cannabis busted" as the headline, me going bloody hell I wish they included a picture and then I'll rip a cone and read the rest of the story