McGinty Emma E, Samples Hillary, Bandara Sachini N, Saloner Brendan, Bachhuber Marcus A, Barry Colleen L
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Departments of Health Policy and Management and Mental Health, Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy Research, 624 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management, Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy Research, 624 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States.
Prev Med. 2016 Sep;90:114-20. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2016.06.040. Epub 2016 Jun 30.
US states have begun to legalize marijuana for recreational use. In the absence of clear scientific evidence regarding the likely public health consequences of legalization, it is important to understand how the risks and benefits of this policy are being discussed in the national dialogue. To assess the public discourse on recreational marijuana policy, we assessed the volume and content of US news media coverage of the topic.
We analyzed the content of a 20% random sample of news stories published/aired in high circulation/viewership print, television, and Internet news sources from 2010 to 2014 (N=610).
News media coverage of recreational marijuana policy was heavily concentrated in news outlets from the four states (AK, CO, OR, WA) and DC that legalized marijuana for recreational use during the study period. Overall, 53% of news stories mentioned pro-legalization arguments and 47% mentioned anti-legalization arguments. The most frequent pro-legalization arguments posited that legalization would reduce criminal justice involvement/costs (20% of news stories) and increase tax revenue (19%). Anti-legalization arguments centered on adverse public health consequences, such as detriments to youth health and well-being (22%) and marijuana-impaired driving (6%). Some evidence-informed public health regulatory options, like marketing and packaging restrictions, were mentioned in 5% of news stories or fewer.
As additional states continue to debate legalization of marijuana for recreational use, it is critical for the public health community to develop communication strategies that accurately convey the rapidly evolving research evidence regarding recreational marijuana policy.
美国各州已开始将娱乐用大麻合法化。鉴于缺乏关于合法化可能产生的公共卫生后果的明确科学证据，了解这一政策的风险和益处如何在全国性讨论中被提及十分重要。为评估关于娱乐用大麻政策的公众讨论情况，我们评估了美国新闻媒体对该话题的报道量及内容。
我们分析了2010年至2014年在发行量/收视率高的印刷、电视和互联网新闻来源上发表/播出的新闻报道的20%随机样本（N = 610）。
新闻媒体对娱乐用大麻政策的报道主要集中在研究期间将娱乐用大麻合法化的四个州（阿拉斯加、科罗拉多、俄勒冈、华盛顿）以及华盛顿特区的新闻媒体。总体而言，53%的新闻报道提到了支持合法化的论点，47%提到了反对合法化的论点。最常见的支持合法化的论点认为，合法化将减少刑事司法介入/成本（占新闻报道的20%）并增加税收（19%）。反对合法化的论点集中在不利的公共卫生后果上，如对青少年健康和幸福的损害（22%）以及大麻影响下的驾驶（6%）。一些基于证据的公共卫生监管选项，如营销和包装限制，在5%或更少的新闻报道中被提及。
随着更多州继续辩论娱乐用大麻合法化问题，公共卫生界制定沟通策略以准确传达关于娱乐用大麻政策的快速发展的研究证据至关重要。
