El papel de los medios en la regulación del cannabis. Un análisis del discurso

Abstract

Abstract: The legalization of cannabis, due to its strong resurgence in modern societies, and thanks to its medical potential, has become an important and debated issue among doctors, politicians, businessmen, researchers, academics, as well as the media.The objective of this work was to analyse the role of the media in the legalization of cannabis in Ecuador, by examining the news broadcasted by the newspapers El Universo, El Comercio, Extra, El Telégrafo, Primicias and La Horaduring a period of 6 months prior to its legalization in 2019. A content analysis methodology was applied, subjecting each newspaper to scrutiny by creating a matrix in which various variables were placed such as the journalistic genre, the topics addressed, the uses to which this substance is intended, among others.Finally, after examining and comparing the data, the results obtained suggest that the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes is not of interest to the Ecuadorian media studied herein.