Journal Article

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The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine

J.Adolesc.Health

Feb

56

2

139

145

LR: 20160202; CI: Copyright (c) 2015; GR: R01 DA032843/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States; GR: R01 DA032843/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States; GR: R01 DA039455/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States; GR: R01 DA039455/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States; GR: R01DA031288/DA/NIDA N

United States

1879-1972; 1054-139X

PMID: 25620299

eng

Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; IM

10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.10.270 [doi]

Unknown(0)

25620299

PURPOSE: We sought to examine the sentiment and themes of marijuana-related chatter on Twitter sent by influential Twitter users and to describe the demographics of these Twitter users. METHODS: We assessed the sentiment and themes of a random sample (n = 7,000) of influential marijuana-related tweets (sent from February 5, 20114, to March 5, 2014). Demographics of the users tweeting about marijuana were inferred using a social media analytics company (Demographics Pro for Twitter). RESULTS: Most marijuana-related tweets reflected a positive sentiment toward marijuana use, with pro-marijuana tweets outnumbering anti-marijuana tweets by a factor of greater than 15. The most common theme of pro-marijuana tweets included the Tweeter stating that he/she wants/plans to use marijuana, followed by tweeting about frequent/heavy/or regular marijuana use, and that marijuana has health benefits and/or should be legalized. Tweeters of marijuana-related content were younger and a greater proportion was African-American compared with the Twitter average. CONCLUSIONS: Marijuana Twitter chatter sent by influential Twitter users tends to be pro-marijuana and popular among African-Americans and youth/young adults. Marijuana-related harms may afflict some individuals; therefore, our findings should be used to inform online and offline prevention efforts that work to target individuals who are most at risk for harms associated with marijuana use.

Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc

Cavazos-Rehg,P.A., Krauss,M., Fisher,S.L., Salyer,P., Grucza,R.A., Bierut,L.J.

Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri. Electronic address: rehgp@psychiatry.wustl.edu.; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.; Department of Psychiatry, W

PMC4306811

http://vp9py7xf3h.search.serialssolutions.com/?charset=utf-8&pmid=25620299

2015