Reefer Madness to Marijuana Legalization: Media Exposure and American Attitudes Towards Marijuana (1975 -2012)

• In Event: Media Constructions of Deviance, Crime and Criminality

Abstract

American attitudes toward marijuana have varied greatly from the time it was criminalized in the 1930’s until 2012, and public opinion favoring the legalization of marijuana has steadily risen since 1990. Since the media is purported to have had an impact on legislation attitudes rather than objective risk factors, it is possible that the marijuana “epidemic” could be the result of a socially constructed moral panic. This study utilized General Social Survey data to examine the relationship between media exposure and attitudes toward the legalization of marijuana from 1975 through 2012. The findings indicate that while media exposure was not significantly related to attitudes regarding marijuana legalization from 1975 through 1990, both television and newspaper exposure had a significant positive relationship with attitudes toward the legalization of marijuana from 1991 through 2012.

Authors

• Richard James Stringer, Old Dominion University

• Scott R. Maggard, Old Dominion University