How Different Parts of the Media Portray Drugs and Drug Users - Coursework Example

Introduction This paper presents a critique of how different parts of the ‘media’ portray drugs and drug users. It also highlights a personal view of reasons behind this trend. The debate regarding dugs and drug users is mainly controlled by the media, which have the capacity to reach many people conveniently and fast enough to spread information. Individuals raise issues through the media, giving others the opportunity to know what the current issues in regard to drugs are. For this reason, the majority of people usually base their reasoning on information acquired from the media. However, the media may present distorted information to the public regarding drugs and drug users since it might be based on individual opinion and perception. If such information is used in the efforts to curb the abuse of drugs, success may not be accomplished. There are various reasons why people use drugs. Some are used for medical reasons while others are used for pleasure. Those who use drugs for non medical purposes are faced with many problems ranging from health issues to social exclusion and stigmatization. Alcohol is the most commonly non medical drug used especially due to the fact that it is allowed by the law in many countries. The manufacturers sacrifice much of their resources in marketing and promotions, with the media playing a significant role in awareness creation among consumers. Different parts of the media are used to target various market segments of drug users. On the other hand, the media is also used for awareness creation in the fight against drug use. They provide substantial information to the public, which portray drugs as substances that are detrimental to the health of users. Moreover, drug use is portrayed as an antisocial behavior and therefore the users are viewed as posing a safety risk to the public, mainly due to their association with crime and violent behavior. How different parts of the Media portray Drugs and Drug Users The manner in which the media portrays drugs and drug users is a significant in determinant of the drugs debate. The society’s perception is based on the information acquired from the media. Most parts of the media give the implication that drugs are dangerous substances that are associated with causing death, psychological disorders, violence, crime and many other antisocial behaviors. For this reason, drug users are portrayed as individuals who exhibit undesirable character in the community. Parrott et al. (2004 p 48) observes that the psychoactive drugs are mainly used for excitement but they may have adverse effects if they are consumed regularly. In situations where for example psychomotor stimulants such as cocaine are used, they enhance performance in the user in the short run while prolonged use leads to adverse effects on the body, such as problems of blood pressure, hallucinations or violent behavior among other negative effects. The media fails to provide an informed explanation regarding the interaction of drugs with the body and may either portray a drug such as cocaine as an acceptable social drug. Duffy (2005) draws attention to this view by focusing on the way the press portrays a positive image of the people whom he regards as “celebrities”, who use cocaine for excitement while partying. When people view such stories in the media, their perception in regard to cocaine tends to be accommodative of the drug. One of the most significant presentations of the media that instill fear in the public regarding the heroine users in the public are the reports regarding drug related violence. The heroine addicts are reported as violent people who have no discretion in regard to controlling their emotions. They are depicted as vindictive individuals whose actions are a security threat to the public. Heroine users therefore remain in isolation within the community, which in most cases leads to stigmatization. They lack access to essential facilities and services since the public tends to keep off to avoid harm. They may not have an opportunity to have their own families because there might not be people willing to get in to a serious engagement with them. However, the heroine users may be regretful of their addiction especially due to the fact that they may have tried using the drug with a positive thought but turned out a failure in regard to their expectations (Glass et al. 1991 p 53). The media fails to establish the fundamental causes of addiction. The negative public’s attitude regarding drug users as a result of the information obtained from different parts of the media is a major hindrance to the efforts of social workers of helping drug users to reform. In many cases, users are not accepted in the society and may not have a chance to reform and interact with other people, which is important in the reform efforts. The information from the media needs not be a basis for evaluating the character of the drug users or the impact of drugs on the health of individuals. For example, different media portray heroine, cocaine, and alcohol among other drugs that lead to addiction as substances that are accessible upon an individual searching or purchasing them. For this reason, a user of the particular drug is depicted as an individual who looks for it due to lack of good morals. The public therefore develops the perception that drug users are immoral and do not require assistance. Instead, they are viewed as people who are supposed to be disciplined through subjecting them to punishment and therefore when a person is caught using drugs in the society, people view him/her as a criminal, rather than viewing the victim as somebody who needs help to cope with the problem of addiction (Lende & Smith, 2002 p 448). The media also associates drug users with vandalism and theft, thereby stereotyping such people as law breakers. Even though the use of drugs may be unlawful, the media portray it as the cause of other serious offences. There is a tendency of the media typecasting drugs and drug users as a problem of the big cities. Most of the media reports are focused on drug use in cities, which gives the impression that there are no drug users in the rural areas. As a result, social workers who may tend to rely on information from the media might not effectively offer assistance to the whole population of drug users, especially the ones who live in the rural areas (Baker 2006 p 21). Cities are depicted as dangerous places where drug use is rampant and since the media associate drugs with crime, people usually worry about visiting such cities. Drug users are mainly portrayed by the media as people who are ready to commit crimes to acquire funds to pay for the drugs. However, the legalized drugs such as alcohol and cigarettes are accessible to people who are financially stable and therefore the users can not be associated with the generalization that the media portrays in the reports regarding crimes and drug use. On the other hand, Goodman (1990 p 45) argues that the impact of alcohol as a drug is not emphasized. The media portrays alcohol and drugs as acceptable drugs that are different from the others that are regarded as “hard drugs”. Most magazines, TV and radio channels are used by manufacturers for advertisements of alcohol and cigarettes. Due to the value that people attach to the media, they tend to believe that alcohol is a harmless drug. However, as Gossop (1998 p 32) notes, alcohol is a drug that is associated with various health and social problems. It is one of the major causes of domestic violence and divorce. However, it would not be logical for the media to portray alcohol as a bad drug while on the other hand they advertise on its value, such as its ability to give relaxation to the consumers. Why Different Parts of the Media Portray Drugs in various ways The media have portrayed some drugs such as cocaine as social drugs mainly depending on the socio-economic aspects of the users. For example, a celebrity using cocaine in merry making events may be portrayed as a unique way of celebrating Duffy (2005). On the other hand, a slum dweller being in possession of the same drug is criminalized and viewed as an antisocial and immoral person who is dangerous to the people. Such imbalance by the media in regard to reporting issues related to drugs may be attributed to the role that different people play in the society. For example, the slum dweller has no recognizable role to the majority while a celebrity has a particular unique role in the society. On the other hand, social workers involved in helping people to avoid starting alcohol consumption find it difficult to convince the youth that alcohol has adverse impacts like any other drug while the media portrays it as an appropriate beverage for relaxation. In other words, different media play a double edged role, whereby they are informative in regard to the dangers of abuse of drugs such as heroine, marijuana and cocaine among other illegal drugs while on the other hand promoting the use of some drugs such as alcohol and cigarettes. Nevertheless, they derive their finances from advertisements, and alcohol and cigarette manufacturers are major sources of revenue from advertisements. The media promote the tobacco smoking through video and television advertisements (Edwards et al. 2004). On the other hand, they promote stigmatization of the heroin, opium and cocaine addicts and other drugs that are regarded as antisocial in the society for the purpose of campaigning against drug use. They expose drug users to the public through their artistic articles that are interesting to read and presentations whereby individuals testify to the public regarding their involvement in drug use to caution non drug users and beginners on the dangers of drug use (Byrne, 2001 p 282). In many media presentations, the heroin users who testify usually present spectacular information on the viewer’s perspective while their faces are hidden by the cameras. This strategy is important in enhancing the public’s understanding in regard to the use of drugs. However, it gives the public an image of the drug users as people who do not care about their lives. For example, the intravenous drug users are portrayed as people who care less and reckless in their lives especially when they are allowed to testify in the media with the confidence of concealment of their identity. The victims only narrate their story, but they do not present their views regarding whether they would like to change their behavior. The media fails by portraying them as if they are satisfied with their day to day life. The public acquires intricate information regarding such people and hence they associate any known drug user with the person that they have known through the media, leading to discrimination and stigmatization of heroin, cocaine, alcohol and opium users among others (Buchanan, 2004 p 388). The media also tend to be focused on offering the most recent and moving phenomena in the society. Through such practice, they tend to remain competent in the public sphere. For this reason, there is often the exaggeration of reports especially those concerned with matters affecting people, such as drug use. For example, people would be more interested in reading news of how drug use has become rampant in schools than they would be interested in reading about drug use among adults. The media may therefore be tempted to exaggerate their reports on various issues, which portrays drug use as an overwhelming problem in the society (Byrne, 2001 p 284). However, some times the people are scared other than understanding the problem and being helped by the media reports to establish a solution to the problems of drug use. Conclusion Drugs such as heroin, cocaine, opium and many others that are regarded as illegal are portrayed by the media as dangerous to the health of an individual. The users are depicted as antisocial people who are dangerous to the public. They are usually stigmatized in the society especially when the media portray drugs and drug users as anti-social people. Efforts to assist drug addicts to stop the use of drugs are suppressed by the negative perception of the public, who fear interacting with the drug users. The reason why different parts of the media portray drugs as dangerous substances is mainly because of the pressure from anti-drug campaigners regarding the use of drugs. On the other hand, the media portray alcohol and cigarettes as acceptable drugs due to the desire to acquire funds from advertisements, while both are known to be associated with health problems. It is important that the true image of drugs and drug use be represented by the media so that social workers can effectively assist the drug users to cope with addiction and identify ways of stopping drug use. Moreover, the media needs to present substantiated information since the public attach much value to their reports. References Baker P. J. “Developing a Blueprint for evidence-based drug prevention in England”. Drugs: Buchanan, J. “Missing Links: Problem Drug Use and Social Exclusion”. Journal on Problem Drug Use, Vol. 51.4 (2004): pp.387-397 Byrne, P. “Psychiatric stigma”. The British Journal of Psychiatry Vol. 178 (2001): pp 281-284 Education, Prevention and Policy Vol. 13.1 (2006): pp 17-32. Duffy, J. The Cocaine Paradox, BBC News Magazine, Monday, 10 October 2005, retrieved on 17th Dec. 2009 at < http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4318898.stm.> Edwards, CA; Harris, W. C; Cook, D. R; Bedford, K. F. & Zuo, Y. “Out of the Smokescreen: Does an anti-smoking advertisement affect young women's perception of smoking in movies and their intention to smoke?” Tobacco Control, Vol. 13.3 (2004): pp 277-282 Glass, I. B. 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