Drugs and the Mass Media

Mass media have been described as all-pervasive cultural institutions which both reflect and project society's values. They are shown to have played a role throughout history, whenever new developments have threatened established values, and often are singled out as important facilitators and a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 1975-01, Vol.417 (1), p.86-100
Main Authors: Barcus, F. Earle, Jankowski, Susan M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Drug abuse
Drug/Drugs
Entertainment
Mass media
Movies
Nonprescription drugs
Psychotropics
Role/Roles
Some Fundamental Policy Issues and the Institutional Response
Song lyrics
Television commercials
Television programs
Television viewing
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Summary:Mass media have been described as all-pervasive cultural institutions which both reflect and project society's values. They are shown to have played a role throughout history, whenever new developments have threatened established values, and often are singled out as important facilitators and accelerators of social change. As such, it is not surprising that various charges have been leveled against the mass media for their purported role in the recent and significant escalation of psychoactive drug use and abuse. Some critics have attempted to relate the act of viewing or experiencing the mass media to problems of drug use; others have focused their charges on, and label as villains, the contents of the media, as in advertising, television entertainment and popular song lyrics. The intent of this paper is to examine some of these accusations and to explore the issues and the evidence in the current controversy over the role of mass media in the use and abuse of psychoactive drugs.
ISSN:0002-7162
1552-3349
DOI:10.1177/000271627541700109