Sentiment and Topic Modeling Analysis on Twitter Reveals Concerns over Cannabis-Containing Food after Cannabis Legalization in Thailand
Issued Date
2023-07-01
Resource Type
ISSN
20933681
eISSN
2093369X
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85167702678
Journal Title
Healthcare Informatics Research
Volume
29
Issue
3
Start Page
269
End Page
279
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Healthcare Informatics Research Vol.29 No.3 (2023) , 269-279
Suggested Citation
Lerksuthirat T., Srisuma S., Ongphiphadhanakul B., Kueanjinda P. Sentiment and Topic Modeling Analysis on Twitter Reveals Concerns over Cannabis-Containing Food after Cannabis Legalization in Thailand. Healthcare Informatics Research Vol.29 No.3 (2023) , 269-279. 279. doi:10.4258/hir.2023.29.3.269 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/88372
Title
Sentiment and Topic Modeling Analysis on Twitter Reveals Concerns over Cannabis-Containing Food after Cannabis Legalization in Thailand
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
Objectives: Twitter has been used to express a diverse range of public opinions about cannabis legalization in Thailand. The purpose of this study was to observe changes in sentiments after cannabis legalization and to investigate health-related topics discussed on Twitter. Methods: Tweets in Thai and English related to cannabis were scraped from Twitter between May 1 and June 13, 2022, during cannabis legalization in Thailand. Sentiment and topic-modeling analyses were used to compare the content of tweets before and after legalization. Health-related topics were manually grouped into categories by their content and rated according to the number of corresponding tweets. Results: We collected 21,242 and 6,493 tweets, respectively, for Thai and English search terms. A sharp increase in the number of tweets related to cannabis legalization was detected at the time of its public announcement. Sentiment analysis in the Thai search group showed a significant change (p < 0.0001) in sentiment distribution after legalization, with increased negative and decreased positive sentiments. A significant change was not found in the English search group (p = 0.4437). Regarding cannabis-containing food as a leading issue, topic-modeling analysis revealed public concerns after legalization in the Thai search group, but not the English one. Topics related to cannabis tourism surfaced only in the English search group. Conclusions: Since cannabis legalization, the primary health-related concern has been cannabis-containing food. Education and clear regulations on cannabis use are required to strengthen over-sight of cannabis in the Thai population, as well as among medical tourists.
