The Reddit cannabis subjective highness rating scale: Applying computational social science to explore psychological and environmental correlates of naturalistic cannabis use.

Social media data provide unprecedented access to discussions of active, naturalistic, and often real-time cannabis use in an era of cannabis policy liberalization. The aim of this study was to explore psychological and environmental correlates of cannabis effects by applying computational social science approaches to a large dataset of unprompted reports of naturalistic cannabis use with corresponding self-reported numerical ratings of subjective highness. Post title text was extracted via the Pushshift dataset from N = 328,865 posts to the r/trees Reddit community, where posters self-assess and disclose how high they feel on a scale from 1 to 10 (M = 6.

Characterizing Help-Seeking Searches for Substance Use Treatment From Google Trends and Assessing Their Use for Infoveillance: Longitudinal Descriptive and Validation Statistical Analysis.

Background: There is no recognized gold standard method for estimating the number of individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) seeking help within a given geographical area. This presents a challenge to policy makers in the effective deployment of resources for the treatment of SUDs. Internet search queries related to help seeking for SUDs using Google Trends may represent a low-cost, real-time, and data-driven infoveillance tool to address this shortfall in information.

Types and Sources of Stigma on Opioid Use Treatment and Recovery Communities on Reddit.

Digitally-mediated peer support may improve opioid use disorder (OUD) recovery. Our objective was to examine the types and sources of stigma that people seek support for in online OUD recovery communities (subreddits) on Reddit. We extracted all posts containing stigma keywords from three subreddits as well as a random sample that do not contain stigma keywords.

"I got a bunch of weed to help me through the withdrawals": Naturalistic cannabis use reported in online opioid and opioid recovery community discussion forums.

A growing body of research has reported on the potential opioid-sparing effects of cannabis and cannabinoids, but less is known about specific mechanisms. The present research examines cannabis-related posts in two large online communities on the Reddit platform ("subreddits") to compare mentions of naturalistic cannabis use by persons self-identifying as actively using opioids versus persons in recovery. We extracted all posts mentioning cannabis-related keywords (e.

Public interest in ∆-Tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-8-THC) increased in US states that restricted ∆-Tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9-THC) use.

Background: There is an expanding unregulated market for a psychotropic compound called ∆-Tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-8-THC) that is being derived from hemp, but there are no empirical estimates of public interest in this compound.

Methods: To measure public interest, we obtained yearly Google query fractions (QFs) that mentioned delta-8-THC (i.e.

Characterizing Self-Reports of Self-Identified Patient Experiences with Methadone Maintenance Treatment on an Online Community during COVID-19.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) through opioid treatment programs (OTPs), especially because of the unique challenges of the care delivery model. Previously, documentation of patient experiences during emergencies often comes years after the fact, in part because there is a substantial data void in real-time. We extracted 308 posts that mention COVID-19 keywords on r/methadone, an online community for patients receiving MMT to share information, on Reddit occurring between January 31, 2020 and September 30, 2020.

Monitoring HIV testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis information seeking by combining digital and traditional data.

Background: Public health is increasingly turning to non-traditional digital data to inform HIV prevention and control strategies. We demonstrate a parsimonious method using both traditional survey and internet search histories to provide new insights into HIV testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) information seeking that can be easily extended to other settings.

Method: We modeled how US internet search volumes from 2019 for HIV testing and PrEP compared against expected search volumes for HIV testing and PrEP using state HIV prevalence and socioeconomic characteristics as predictors.

Google shopping queries for vaping products, JUUL and IQOS during the E-cigarette, or Vaping, product use Associated Lung Injury (EVALI) outbreak.

Objectives: To assess whether the late 2019 US outbreak of pulmonary disease linked to vaping ('E-cigarette, or Vaping, product use Associated Lung Injury' (EVALI)) impacted online shopping queries for vaping products and the Philip Morris 'IQO' brand of heated tobacco.

Methods: We tracked online shopping queries for vape(s), JUUL and IQOS by analysing rates of Google queries indicative of shopping (eg, buy IQOS) after news of the outbreak was first reported (the week of 29 July 2019) until hospitalisations ceased (the week of 16 February 2020). We compared observed rates of shopping during the outbreak to counterfactual expected rates that were predicted using an autoregressive iterative moving average model fit to queries from 1 January 2014 to the week of 21 July 2019.

Quantifying Public Interest in Police Reforms by Mining Internet Search Data Following George Floyd's Death.

Background: The death of George Floyd while in police custody has resurfaced serious questions about police conduct that result in the deaths of unarmed persons.

Objective: Data-driven strategies that identify and prioritize the public's needs may engender a public health response to improve policing. We assessed how internet searches indicative of interest in police reform changed after Mr Floyd's death.

Self-reported Cannabidiol (CBD) Use for Conditions With Proven Therapies.

Importance: Use of cannabidiol (CBD) has markedly increased in the past 5 years, concurrent with marketing claims that over-the-counter CBD can be used to treat almost any health condition. However, the reasons why individuals use CBD remain unclear.

Objective: To assess whether individuals are using CBD for diagnosable conditions that have evidence-based therapies.

News coverage of the E-cigarette, or Vaping, product use Associated Lung Injury (EVALI) outbreak and internet searches for vaping cessation.

Background: In the latter half of 2019, an outbreak of pulmonary disease in the USA resulted in 2807 hospitalisations and 68 deaths, as of 18 February 2020. Given the severity of the outbreak, we assessed whether articles during the outbreak era more frequently warned about the dangers of vaping and whether internet searches for vaping cessation increased.

Methods: Using Tobacco Watcher, a media monitoring platform that automatically identifies and categorises news articles from sources across the globe, we obtained all articles that (a) discussed the outbreak and (b) primarily warned about the dangers of vaping.

Internet Searches for Acute Anxiety During the Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This cross-sectional study analyzes internet search data to evaluate the association of COVID-19 with anxiety.

Examining Peer-to-Peer and Patient-Provider Interactions on a Social Media Community Facilitating Ask the Doctor Services.

Ask the Doctor (AtD) services provide patients the opportunity to seek medical advice using online platforms. While these services represent a new mode of healthcare delivery, study of these online health communities and how they are used is limited. In particular, it is unknown if these platforms replicate existing barriers and biases in traditional healthcare delivery across demographic groups.

Automated image analysis of instagram posts: Implications for risk perception and communication in public health using a case study of #HIV.

People's perceptions about health risks, including their risk of acquiring HIV, are impacted in part by who they see portrayed as at risk in the media. Viewers in these cases are asking themselves "do those portrayed as at risk look like me?" An accurate perception of risk is critical for high-risk populations, who already suffer from a range of health disparities. Yet, to date no study has evaluated the demographic representation of health-related content from social media.

Responses to addiction help-seeking from Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant, Cortana, and Bixby intelligent virtual assistants.

We investigated how intelligent virtual assistants (IVA), including Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, Google Assistant, Microsoft's Cortana, and Samsung's Bixby, responded to addiction help-seeking queries. We recorded if IVAs provided a singular response and if so, did they link users to treatment or treatment referral services. Only 4 of the 70 help-seeking queries presented to the five IVAs returned singular responses, with the remainder prompting confusion (e.

#HIV: Alignment of HIV-Related Visual Content on Instagram with Public Health Priorities in the US.

Instagram, with more than 1 billion monthly users, is the go-to social media platform to chronicle one's life via images, but how are people using the platform to present visual content about HIV? We analyzed public Instagram posts containing the hashtag "#HIV" (because they are self-tagged as related to HIV) between January 2017 and July 2018. We described the prevalence of co-occurring hashtags and explored thematic concepts in the images using automated image recognition and topic modeling. Twenty-eight percent of all #HIV posts included hashtags focused on awareness, followed by LGBTQ (24.

Requests for Diagnoses of Sexually Transmitted Diseases on a Social Media Platform.

This study monitored online posts from readers seeking specific health information on a social media platform to evaluate the volume of information requests, whether readers sought an initial or second opinion for diagnosis, and the amount of response time before a reply answer was sent.

Trends in Internet Searches for Cannabidiol (CBD) in the United States.

This cross-sectional study examines Google searches for cannabidiol (CBD) in the United States to gauge public interest in the use of CBD.

Harnessing digital data and data science to achieve 90-90-90 goals to end the HIV epidemic.

Purpose Of Review: Effective public health interventions depend on timely, accurate surveillance. Harnessing digital data (including internet searches, social media, and online media) and data science is an emerging approach to complement traditional surveillance in public health but has been underutilized in HIV prevention and treatment.

Recent Findings: We highlight recent examples that illustrate how social media data can be applied to HIV surveillance and prevention interventions.