Mass media campaigns and media advocacy related to cannabis-impaired driving: a scoping review

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Driving under the influence of cannabis (DUIC) remains a concern among youth. Mass media, consisting of formal campaigns (i.e., coordinated efforts to raise awareness or provide education) and media advocacy (i.e., communications not part of a formal campaign), can aid in youth DUIC prevention. This study aimed to investigate the use of mass media in DUIC messaging.

Methods

A systematic search was conducted across six electronic databases and gray literature. Studies were included if they: were published in English, involved populations in Canada or the U.S., utilized mass media campaigns or mass media advocacy, and had messaging related to DUIC.

Results

The search resulted in 173 unique records, of which nine were included. Four mass media campaigns were identified that utilized several forms of media (e.g., radio, TV, social media). Media advocacy was described in three peer-reviewed articles that analyzed the content of DUIC messaging in the news or social media.

Conclusions

The current literature has few mass media campaigns related to DUIC. Of these, reports describing campaigns lacked a description of the use of theory, outcomes, and evaluation. In addition, media advocacy has been used to provide messaging related to cannabis, although limited content pertained to DUIC.

KEYWORDS:

• Mass media
• media advocacy
• cannabis
• cannabis-impaired driving
• mairjuana

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.