Kronic hysteria: Exploring the intersection between Australian synthetic cannabis legislation, the media, and drug-related harm

doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2012.12.002

International Journal of Drug Policy

Volume 24, Issue 3, May 2013, Pages 231-237

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2012.12.002 Get rights and content

Abstract

Background

Having first appeared in Europe, synthetic cannabis emerged as a drug of concern in Australia during 2011. Kronic is the most well-known brand of synthetic cannabis in Australia and received significant media attention. Policy responses were reactive and piecemeal between state and federal governments. In this paper we explore the relationship between media reports, policy responses, and drug-related harm.

Methods

Google search engine applications were used to produce time–trend graphs detailing the volume of media stories being published online about synthetic cannabis and Kronic, and also the amount of traffic searching for these terms. A discursive analysis was then conducted on those media reports that were identified by Google as ‘key stories’. The timing of related media stories was also compared with self-reported awareness and month of first use, using previously unpublished data from a purposive sample of Australian synthetic cannabis users.

Results

Between April and June 2011, mentions of Kronic in the media increased. The number of media stories published online connected strongly with Google searches for the term Kronic. These stories were necessarily framed within dominant discourses that served to construct synthetic cannabis as pathogenic and created a ‘moral panic’. Australian state and federal governments reacted to this moral panic by banning individual synthetic cannabinoid agonists. Manufacturers subsequently released new synthetic blends that they claimed contained new unscheduled chemicals.

Conclusion

Policies implemented within in the context of ‘moral panic’, while well-intended, can result in increased awareness of the banned product and the use of new yet-to-be-scheduled drugs with unknown potential for harm. Consideration of regulatory models should be based on careful examination of the likely intended and unintended consequences. Such deliberation might be limited by the discursive landscape.

Section snippets

Method

Drawing from Forsyth's (2012) methodology, Google Trends was first used to produce time-trend graphs detailing the number of stories being published online about synthetic cannabis and Kronic, and also the amount of traffic searching for these terms. Google Trends also generated links to media reports at key milestones. Forsyth has noted some limitations in using this application since Google is not the only search engine; however, it is the most widely used. Further, Google Trends are

Findings and discussion

Fig. 1, Fig. 2 contain graphs produced using Google Trend. The lower line in each figure depicts the volume of media stories being published online that referred to Kronic and synthetic cannabis respectively. The upper line in each figure indicates how many people were searching for “Kronic” and “synthetic cannabis”. As can be seen in Fig. 1, Fig. 2, the first online media stories about synthetic cannabis and Kronic began to emerge in March, with a sharp increase in the number of stories in May

Conclusions

By examining the emergence of synthetic cannabis as a drug of concern in Australia, the present paper aimed to help understand how the media, legislative change, and drug-related harm intersect. The notion of dominant discourses was proposed to be helpful in understanding this relationship since they will demarcate how the media constructs the emergence of a new drug, how policy makers are able to frame the debate, and in turn, people's drug using behaviour.

The pre-existing Australian dominant

Conflict of interests

This research comprises part of the first author's PhD. We have no conflicts of interests to declare.

Acknowledgement

The National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing under the National Drug Strategy.

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Research paperKronic hysteria: Exploring the intersection between Australian synthetic cannabis legislation, the media, and drug-related harm

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Section snippets

Method

Findings and discussion

Conclusions

Conflict of interests

Acknowledgement

Journal of Adolescent Health

International Journal of Drug Policy

Journal of Chromatography B

International Journal of Drug Policy

Forensic Science International

‘Spice’ and other herbal blends: Harmless incense or cannabinoid designer drugs?

Journal of Mass Spectrometry

What can we say about substance use? Dominant discourses and narratives emergent from Australian media

Addiction Research and Theory

Who sets the agenda? Agenda setting as a two step flow

Communication Research

Social constructionism

Folk devils and moral panics

Phenazepam and cannabinomimetics sold as herbal highs in New Zealand

Drug Testing and Analysis

Breaking the news or fueling the epidemic? Temporal association between news media report volume and opioid-related mortality

PLoS ONE

Monitoring of herbal mixtures potentially containing synthetic cannabinoids as psychoactive compounds

Journal of Mass Spectrometry

Ecstasy: The MDMA story

Should “legal highs” be regulated as medicinal products?

British Medical Journal

Beyond THC: The new generation of cannabinoid designer drugs

Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

Research paper
Kronic hysteria: Exploring the intersection between Australian synthetic cannabis legislation, the media, and drug-related harm