Media Representations of Drinking, Drug Use, and Smoking

Media Representations of Drinking, Drug Use, and Smoking

Researchers study how drugs, alcohol, and tobacco are portrayed on television, in movies, in songs, and in other forms of media. According to some studies, media containing scenes or conversationsabout these substances can affect drinking, smoking, and illicit drug use, especially among children and young adults. Some organizations are trying to reduce or eliminate the appearance of these substances in the media. They also encourage actors, musicians, writers, and producers to portray substance use in a realistic—not a glamorous—way.

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drugs in Movies

In 1999 a research and advocacy organization called Mediascopeﾀ completed a study about substance use in movies and music. Mediascope researchers wanted to compare the public's impression of how often alcohol, drugs, and tobacco were mentioned or seen in movies and music to the actual number of times these substances appeared in these media. The study looked at how often alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs appeared in the 200 most popular movie rentals and 1,000 most popular songs from 1996 to 1997. It also examined how the substances were portrayed in each song or movie.

%See Organizations of Interest at the back of Volume 2 for address, telephone, and URL.

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