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Marketing a Panic: Media Coverage of Novel Psychoactive Drugs (NPDs) and its Relationship with Legal Changes

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Abstract

Recent social and legal responses to novel psychoactive drugs (NPDs) have been attributed to media panics rather than these substance’s actual harms. NPDs, including botanical substances new to Western markets such as Salvia divinorum, newly synthesized analogues such as synthetic cannabinoids and “bath salts,” and new ways of administering drugs, such as combining prescription cough syrup with soda (“purple drank”) have been the target of various forms of legislation at the state and/or federal level. We systematically examine print media coverage of NPDs in the U. S. between 2005 and 2013 to determine whether media attention was temporally associated with legislative change. Results indicate that each drug had a brief window during which it was the focus of sensationalistic reporting. In addition, federal legislation banning synthetic cannabinoids and “bath salts” appear to be closely linked to media reporting as spikes in coverage both preceded and followed the bans.

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Notes

  1. Search terms included: Salvia, Salvia divinorum, Salvinorin A, Sally D, Magic Mint, Purple Sticky, Spice, K2, Mr. Miyagi, Synthetic cannabinoids, Synthetic cannabis, Synthetic marijuana, Cannabimimetic agents, Bath Salts, Plant Food, Synthetic Cathinone, Synthetic Cathinones, MDPV, Methylenedioxypyrovalerone, Mephedrone, Methylone, Naphyrone, Ivory Wave, Vanilla Sky, Hurricane Charlie, Purple Drank, Codeine Cough Syrup, Sizzurp, Promethazine, TFMPP, Trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine, Kratom, Mitragyna speciosa, Ketum, Kakuam, Ithang, Thom, Butt Chugging, Vodka Tampon, Alcohol Vaporizer.

  2. Coders selected from eight focus categories that were agreed upon after piloting and evaluating an initial codebook (dangers or dangerousness [health consequences, dependence, accidents, etc.], the spread of use [terms such as epidemic, spread, or growing issue used], a user profile [who’s using it], legal availability or other legal issues, crimes related to the drug, law enforcement efforts, deviant/sexual behavior, and manufacturing/trade [who’s making the drug and profiting]). Though coders were required to indicate a primary focus, they could choose to omit the secondary and tertiary focus items if the article only focused on one (or two) of these issues.

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Acknowledgement

The authors thank Scott Fraser and Michael Singleton for assistance in collecting data and coding.

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Miller, B.L., Stogner, J.M., Agnich, L.E. et al. Marketing a Panic: Media Coverage of Novel Psychoactive Drugs (NPDs) and its Relationship with Legal Changes. Am J Crim Just 40, 523–541 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-014-9270-6

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