Karina Rodriguez
Staff Writer
Nicholas Athey, assistant professor of sociology and criminology, discussed “Cannabis-related political discourse on Twitter : A Mixed-Methods Approach” Tuesday in the Lewis Center classroom before an audience of roughly 40 University community members.
Cannabis, its use and misuse is a divisive topic of discussion, said Athey, whose scholarship focuses on drug policy.
Athey said he used quantitative and qualitative research methods.
“The quantitative side I’m doing descriptive … analysis.” Athey said. “I (also) do a sentiment test of the tweets,” Athey said.
Athey noted that the word “marijuana” is no longer used frequently, and cannabis is preferred.
“I’m actually really interested in ‘cannabis’ and ‘marijuana’ because marijuana has often been used as a derogatory term,” Athey said.
He also discussed the use of the words “pot” and “weed.”
“‘Pot’ and ‘weed’ are interesting because they also have negative connotations, so you would expect there to be more of a negative sentiment,” he said, adding that those words’ negative connotations were not as evident.
The former Twitter, now X, serves as a stage for people of all walks of life to engage in discourses similar and different to their own, Athey said, making it a good place to gauge discourse on the topic.
Athey began his research in 2020. He had to get a special written permission from Twitter to be able to download thousands of tweets to conduct his research. He divided the cannabis tweets into 6 categories: economy, government, public health, justice, substance use and abuse, and other.
Athey analyzed thousands of tweets. His lecture considered history and modern discourse about cannabis.
“I learned a lot, but what I appreciated most was the history and everything that has taken place,” Leticia Arellano-Morales said. “This is such a unique study.”
Alessandro Morosin, assistant professor of sociology and criminology who also attended Tuesday, added that his own skepticism of the cannabis industry was reinforced because of what he called “the mass commodification of cannabis in the states where it (is) legal.”
Some of the negative effects can be seen in “labor, the environment (and) the whiteness of who owns the industry,” Morosin said.
Karina Rodriguez can be reached at karina.rodriguez3@laverne.edu.
Karina Rodriguez is a senior journalism major with a concentration in broadcast journalism, and editor-in-chief of the Campus Times. She has previously served as sports editor, social media editor, arts editor and a staff writer.
Camille C.Nan is a senior photography major and art history minor who specializes in portraiture. She is a staff photographer for Campus Times and La Verne Magazine.
