A linguistic analysis of dehumanization toward substance use across three decades of news articles
Frontiers in Public Health, 2023
This paper quantifies the dehumanization of people who use substances (PWUS) across three decades using a large corpus of over 3 million news articles. The results show that levels of dehumanization remain high and while marijuana has become less dehumanized over time, attitudes toward other substances such as heroin and cocaine remain stable. This work highlights the importance of a holistic view of substance use that places all substances within the context of addiction as a disease, prioritizes the humanization of PWUS, and centers around harm reduction.
Recommended citation: Giorgi S, Habib DRS, Bellew D, Sherman G, Curtis B. A linguistic analysis of dehumanization toward substance use across three decades of news articles. Front Public Health. 2023;11:1275975. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1275975