Virtually a drug scare: Mephedrone and the impact of the Internet on drug news transmission

Forsyth, Alasdair

doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2011.12.003

Cited by 102 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…In previous work similar Internet fora have been used (Schifano et al, 2006;Carhart-Harris et al, 2011;Deluca et al, 2012;Kjellgren and Jonsson, 2013;Van Hout and Bingham, 2013) but the approach taken here is novel in that a time-dependent measure of the activity was extracted. This measure is similar in spirit to the search-history intensity obtained from web-based search-engines Forsyth, 2012) but it has advantages compared to such measures:…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The interest in eight new psychoactive substances before and after scheduling

Ledberg¹

2015

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

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a b s t r a c tBackground: In recent years the recreational use of new psychoactive substances (NPS) has increased. NPS are considered a threat to public health and the main response to this threat is to make the selling and buying of these substances illegal. In Sweden, during the last 5 years, 62 new substances have been classified as narcotics but little is known of the effects of making a particular substance illegal. The aim of this work is to study how legal status influences the interest in NPS in Sweden. Methods: Forty-five thousand posts made in a Swedish Internet discussion forum (Flashback Forum) related to eight NPS (MDPV, Methylone, 4-MEC, 4-HO-MET, MXE, 6-APB, AH-7921, and 3-MMC) were used to derive time-dependent measures of interest in these substances. Intervention analyses were used to investigate the effects of legal status on the forum interest. Results: For all eight substances the activity on the forum (measured as number of posts per day) showed a drastic decrease around the time of classification. The statistical analysis showed that in seven of eight cases, the drop in activity could be accounted for by the legal status of the substances. Conclusions: The legal status of the substances was shown to have a substantial effect on the interest in the substances. The novel measure used to trace the interest in particular NPS could be a useful tool to follow trends in substance use in almost real-time.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The interest in eight new psychoactive substances before and after scheduling

Ledberg¹

2015

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

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“…This dichotomy embeds the socio-cultural acceptance of certain substances whilst imbuing others (and their users) with harmful traits which require strict legal control. This othering process is evident in responses to the recent 'emergence' of Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) in the UK with both media and political discourses responding to this 'drug scare' (Forsyth, 2012) by presuming that all of these substances are harmful, without supporting evidence. The Psychoactive Substances Bill which is in the process of becoming legislation in the UK mirrors this by proposing a blanket ban on the sale of all NPS -a generic response to the othering of specific NPS.…”

Section: Constructing the Othermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whilst some writers have identified the difficulty of attempting to generalise patterns in drugs discourse (Giulianotti, 1997;Hughes et al, 2011), particularly in the contemporary multi-mediated environment (Forsyth, 2012), a number of academics have highlighted themes in how political and media discourses 'do drugs'. It has been argued that governmental discourse around drug consumption is 'characterised by compulsion, pain and pathology ' (O'Malley and Valverde, 2004: 26) whilst the mainstream media compound this ideology with negative stereotypical representations of drug users (UKDPC, 2010).…”

Section: Constructing the Othermentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving beyond the other

Taylor¹

2016

Tijdschrift Over Cultuur &Amp; Criminaliteit

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SummaryThis paper uses the UK as a vehicle through which to argue that a dominant reductionist drugs discourse exists which simplifies understandings of drug use and drug users leading to socio-cultural misrepresentations of harm, risk and dangerousness. It contends that at the centre of this discourse lies the process of othering -the identification of specific substances and substance users as a threat to UK society. Interestingly, within the wider context of global drug policy reform this othering process appears to be expanding to target a wider variety of factors and actors -those policies, research findings and individuals which contest normative notions, resulting in the marginalisation of 'alternative voices' which question the entrenched assumptions associated with drug prohibition. The paper concludes that there is a need for collective action by critical scholars to move beyond the other, calling for academics to be innovative in their research agendas, creative in their dissemination of knowledge and resolute despite the threat of being othered themselves.

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“…Forsyth (2012) has proposed that once media reports concerning the emergence of a new drug break in the mainstream press, they will draw on the 'drug scare' narrative that constructs the new drug as dangerous and the need for urgent action. In turn, a media campaign against the drug develops that recruits politicians, researchers and the morally righteous.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Kronic hysteria: Exploring the intersection between Australian synthetic cannabis legislation, the media, and drug-related harm

Bright

Bishop

Kane

et al. 2013

International Journal of Drug Policy

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Policies implemented within in the context of 'moral panic', while well-intended, can result in increased awareness of the banned product and the use of new yet-to-be-scheduled drugs with unknown potential for harm. Consideration of regulatory models should be based on careful examination of the likely intended and unintended consequences. Such deliberation might be limited by the discursive landscape.

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Virtually a drug scare: Mephedrone and the impact of the Internet on drug news transmission

Cited by 102 publications

References 40 publications

The interest in eight new psychoactive substances before and after scheduling

The interest in eight new psychoactive substances before and after scheduling

Moving beyond the other

Kronic hysteria: Exploring the intersection between Australian synthetic cannabis legislation, the media, and drug-related harm

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