ד"ר שרון שניטמן, הפקולטה לרווחה ובריאות, אוניברסיטת חיפה

יום ג', 8.5.2018, 12:15, בניין רבין, חדר 8001

Media Messages about Medical Cannabis and their Potential Effects on Attitudes toward Recreational Cannabis use and Legalization

Increasingly more jurisdictions around the world have legalized Medical Cannabis (MC) for various indications. Israel has been running a MC program since the late 1990s (recreational cannabis use remains illegal). With the exception of 14 oncologists who have the authority to directly issue MC licenses, the MC recommendations of specialist physicians are referred to the MC unit of the Ministry of Health for license authorization. Licenses are only granted for specific conditions/symptoms, and only following the exhaustion of other “conventional” therapeutic options.

MC policies in Israel and elsewhere have generated scientific and political debate regarding possible unintended spillover effects. A central question is whether MC legalization make recreational cannabis use more socially acceptable, thus leading to increased recreational use.

In this presentation I will summarize results of a serious of studies conducted in Israel where we investigate attitudes towards MC and how media may play a role in forming attitudes towards MC and in turn influence attitudes towards recreational cannabis.

We focus on media coverage because it is one of the major factors that influences public policy through shaping public opinion on this issue. To investigate media coverage of MC, we examined the way in which this issue was framed in Israeli news coverage from 2007 to 2013. The results of a quantitative content analysis of media coverage revealed that in the majority of medical cannabis news articles (69%), cannabis was framed as a medicine, although in almost one third of articles (31%) cannabis was framed as an illicit drug. We also found that patients were featured prominently as sources in media coverage, and were the most frequently cited source in our sample.

In light of this finding, we conducted a web-based randomized experiment testing the effects of exposure to messages about MC. Israeli participants (N = 396) recruited through an online survey company were randomly assigned to view a patient narrative (similar to those found in extant media) or a non-narrative video containing equivalent information about MC. Video content was further manipulated based on whether the protagonist (the patient) had a stigmatized disease or not, and whether attribution of responsibility for his disease was internal or external.

Exposure to patient testimonials indirectly increased positive attitudes, beliefs and intentions related to recreational cannabis use through changing attitudes, beliefs and intentions related to MC. Furthermore, exposure to narratives in which the patient was presented as not to blame for contracting his illness (external attribution) was associated with more positive attitudes, beliefs and intentions toward MC, a factor that was significantly associated with more positive attitudes, beliefs and intentions related to recreational cannabis use.

In an additional study using a web-based survey (N = 554) we tested the effects of information seeking and scanning, from mass media and from online sources, about MC on attitudes toward MC. Furthermore, we tested indirect effects of information seeking on attitudes toward legalization of cannabis (for all purposes) through MC attitudes. We found evidence to suggest that seeking and scanning for information about MC from mass media and online sources are positively associated with attitudes toward MC. Results also show that information seeking about MC was indirectly associated with greater support for cannabis legalization (for all purposes) through changing attitudes related to MC.

Combined, these results suggest that news media coverage of MC may influence public attitudes toward recreational cannabis. This may be particularly true for news stories presented as patient testimonials. Because such media stories continue to be commonplace, it is important to examine potential spillover effects of this coverage on public perceptions of recreational cannabis. Cannabis prevention programs should address the role of media coverage in shaping public opinion, as well as address the distinction between medical and recreational cannabis use.

Background papers
Sznitman, S. R., & Bretteville-Jensen, A. L. (2015). Public opinion and medical cannabis policies: examining the role of underlying beliefs and national medical cannabis policies. Harm. Reduct. J., 12, 46.

Sznitman, S. R., & Lewis, N. (2015). Is cannabis an illicit drug or a medicine? A quantitative framing analysis of Israeli newspaper coverage. Int. J. Drug Policy, 26, 446-452.

Sznitman, S. R., & Lewis, N. (2018). Examining effects of medical cannabis narratives on beliefs, attitudes, and intentions related to recreational cannabis: A web-based randomized experiment. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 185, 219-225.

Sznitman, S. R., & Zolotov, Y. (2015). Cannabis for Therapeutic Purposes and public health and safety: A systematic and critical review. Int. J. Drug Policy, 26, 20-29.