Pleasure And Pain: The Use Of Drugs In The Media

Since the dawn of media, the usage of such communication has been used to represent trending ideas and to interconnect with audiences. One such idea is depicted in book chapter ‘Pleasure and Pain’ is that the “representation of illegal drug consumption, addiction and trafficking through music, film and visual imagery to communicate the meaning about drugs and the individuals who take them” (Boyd, 2011, p.57). Boyd (2011), Christenson et al. (2012) and Primack (2009) argue that the illicit usage of substances is misused amongst the youth who are influenced by a certain public figure, film or music genres both portraying substances either positively and negatively such as cannabis. Over time, the portrayal of drugs in media has increased due
Primack (2009, p516) suggests that there is “convincing evidence that exposure to certain media messages increases substance use…”. This is mainly due to the youth among teens ages 12 to 17 are the main consumers of music who listen on average 2.4 hours a day, and thus influences their social attitude and behaviour (Christenson et al., 2012, NIH, 2008). In relation to the research done by Primack (2008), Champney-Smith (2003; in Christenson et al., 2012) agrees that whatever the genre of music, a certain substance will be associated with it such as “… marijuana with reggae and rap…”. Boyd’s (2011) take on media representation can backup this argument however she suggests that the cannabis references in music and film include a positive representation of “… recreational marijuana use, growing, selling and importing” (Boyd, 2011, p64). There is a heavy link between stoner films, reggae music and marijuana (Boyd, 2011, Christenson, 2012). Boyd (2011) suggests that films such as ‘The Harder They Come (1972)’, represent ‘…both recreational and spiritual use…”. Showing not all use of cannabis is considered