Table 2.
Number and proportion of organizing themes in marijuana legalization stories, 1995–2014.
| Theme | NYT | WSJ | WP | DP | ST | SFC | DMN | TT | CD | TW | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legislation | N | 19 | 19 | 28 | 19 | 22 | 9 | 16 | 39 | 16 | 13 | 200 |
| % | 26.0 | 27.5 | 37.8 | 23.8 | 32.8 | 12.5 | 24.2 | 60.0 | 45.7 | 33.3 | 31.3 | |
| Law enforcement | N | 34 | 30 | 29 | 43 | 31 | 54 | 23 | 20 | 5 | 16 | 285 |
| % | 46.6 | 43.5 | 39.2 | 53.8 | 46.3 | 75.0 | 34.8 | 30.8 | 14.3 | 41.0 | 44.5 | |
| Youth drug use | N | 5 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 52 |
| % | 6.8 | 11.6 | 8.1 | 3.8 | 9.0 | 0.0 | 16.7 | 6.2 | 17.1 | 7.7 | 8.1 | |
| Economy | N | 10 | 14 | 8 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 65 |
| % | 13.7 | 20.3 | 10.8 | 17.5 | 11.9 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 4.6 | 5.7 | 5.1 | 10.2 | |
| Patients | N | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 23 |
| % | 6.8 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 2.8 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 8.6 | 2.6 | 3.6 | |
| Medical effect | N | 9 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 63 |
| % | 12.3 | 10.1 | 10.8 | 2.5 | 14.9 | 5.6 | 13.6 | 9.2 | 14.3 | 7.7 | 9.8 | |
| Others | N | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| % | 2.7 | 4.3 | 5.4 | 3.8 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.7 | |
| Number | 73 | 69 | 74 | 80 | 67 | 72 | 66 | 65 | 35 | 39 | 640 | |
Note: NYT, the New York Times, WSJ, the Wall Street Journal, WP, the Washington Post, DP, the Denver Post, ST, the Seattle Times, SFC, the San Francisco Chronicle, DMN, The Dallas Morning News, TT, the Tampa Tribune, CD, the Columbus Dispatch, TW, the Tulsa World.