It has been well-established that, in the USA, the news media contributes to the construction of moral panics regarding the use and users of various types of drugs. In this study, we utilize the moral-panic framework to understand how the media depicts drug use in Malaysia. We used content analysis of two widely read English-language Malaysian newspapers to explore how drug use and drug users are depicted and portrayed. Broadly, we find that Malaysian news media tends to overemphasize legal issues while underemphasizing health issues associated with drug use, drug treatment, and harm reduction interventions. This type of coverage has likely contributed to a moral panic surrounding drug use in Malaysia.

众所周知，在美国，新闻媒体有助于建立有关使用和使用各种毒品的道德恐慌。在这项研究中，我们利用道德恐慌框架来了解媒体如何描绘马来西亚的毒品使用情况。我们使用了两种马来西亚知名英语报纸的内容分析，以探讨如何描绘和描绘吸毒和吸毒者。总体而言，我们发现马来西亚新闻媒体往往过分强调法律问题，而又过分强调与毒品使用，毒品治疗和减少危害干预措施有关的健康问题。这种类型的保险可能导致了马来西亚在药物使用方面的道德恐慌。