Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Have you heard the news?
Big media are backing away from drug war hysteria.
An oped by Misha Glenny in the New York Times today ends this way:
"After 80 years of war on drugs, consumers have easier access to a greater variety of these products than ever. Prices continue to drop while the profits of narco-traffickers go up. But - given the developments in South America, Europe and Canada - we are perhaps for the first time seeing the emergence of a coalition determined to challenge a policy that generates unimaginable misery year in and year out."
In recent days, both Fortune and the Wall Street Journal Medical Marijuana in California Aspires to Go Commercial - have printed serious, in-depth features on medical cannabis as business. Compare those stories against a horrendous bit of speculative fiction posing as journalism presented by National Public Radio just five months ago.
Recent analysis in the Columbia Journalism Review noted that a serious approach to medical cannabis that rejects propagandistic scare tactics is becoming more of the norm among media outlets.
After closely watching the mainstream media's coverage of the drug war for roughly ten years, I've got to say: It's about time.
Why is it happening now? Consider the following factors:
* The carnage in Mexico illustrates the true horrors of prohibition's logical progression
* The ongoing trend of Latin American nations moving to legalize personal drug use
* New positive research about the benefits of cannabinoids is released almost daily
* Financial crises at multiple levels of government, coupled with financial success in medical cannabis markets leads to new thinking about solutions
* Bloggers dissection of drug war disinformation from the mainstream media
* The Media Awareness Project's efforts to archive both good and bad articles and to encourage activist response
And one more big one: Mass media markets with eroding audiences trying to find new ways to connect. The big media has always been a stumbling block to drug policy reform, as it seemed to find value in the sensationalism and appearance of moral rectitude that one-sided drug war stories offer.
Now, with some major newspapers barely hanging on ( stories out of Chicago this week suggest that the Sun-Times has just enough cash to cover liquidation, unless a big investor steps up ), editors seem to understand that readers want real, accurate information on controversial issues like drug prohibition - not a modified DARE lesson.
Of course, the transformation is not complete. The New York Times just a few weeks ago displayed schizophrenia when it published a fairly glowing book review of an anti-cannabis polemic titled "The Lost Child: A Mother's Story" by Julie Myerson. Along with neglecting to question passages that reflect scientifically questionable reefer madness, the book review failed to mention concerns about narrative accuracy that were debated when the book was first published in Myerson's native England.
But, later, in another section of the paper, the Times did at least mention the fact that Meyerson's son told a different story, though the article focused more on the ethics of writing about family problems.
Drug war addiction is a tough habit to break. The whole press corps won't get it overnight. But, the real news is that many seem to be on their way.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: DrugSense Weekly (DSW)
Section: Feature Article
Website: DrugSense: Drug Law Reform
Author: Stephen Young
Note: Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly
Big media are backing away from drug war hysteria.
An oped by Misha Glenny in the New York Times today ends this way:
"After 80 years of war on drugs, consumers have easier access to a greater variety of these products than ever. Prices continue to drop while the profits of narco-traffickers go up. But - given the developments in South America, Europe and Canada - we are perhaps for the first time seeing the emergence of a coalition determined to challenge a policy that generates unimaginable misery year in and year out."
In recent days, both Fortune and the Wall Street Journal Medical Marijuana in California Aspires to Go Commercial - have printed serious, in-depth features on medical cannabis as business. Compare those stories against a horrendous bit of speculative fiction posing as journalism presented by National Public Radio just five months ago.
Recent analysis in the Columbia Journalism Review noted that a serious approach to medical cannabis that rejects propagandistic scare tactics is becoming more of the norm among media outlets.
After closely watching the mainstream media's coverage of the drug war for roughly ten years, I've got to say: It's about time.
Why is it happening now? Consider the following factors:
* The carnage in Mexico illustrates the true horrors of prohibition's logical progression
* The ongoing trend of Latin American nations moving to legalize personal drug use
* New positive research about the benefits of cannabinoids is released almost daily
* Financial crises at multiple levels of government, coupled with financial success in medical cannabis markets leads to new thinking about solutions
* Bloggers dissection of drug war disinformation from the mainstream media
* The Media Awareness Project's efforts to archive both good and bad articles and to encourage activist response
And one more big one: Mass media markets with eroding audiences trying to find new ways to connect. The big media has always been a stumbling block to drug policy reform, as it seemed to find value in the sensationalism and appearance of moral rectitude that one-sided drug war stories offer.
Now, with some major newspapers barely hanging on ( stories out of Chicago this week suggest that the Sun-Times has just enough cash to cover liquidation, unless a big investor steps up ), editors seem to understand that readers want real, accurate information on controversial issues like drug prohibition - not a modified DARE lesson.
Of course, the transformation is not complete. The New York Times just a few weeks ago displayed schizophrenia when it published a fairly glowing book review of an anti-cannabis polemic titled "The Lost Child: A Mother's Story" by Julie Myerson. Along with neglecting to question passages that reflect scientifically questionable reefer madness, the book review failed to mention concerns about narrative accuracy that were debated when the book was first published in Myerson's native England.
But, later, in another section of the paper, the Times did at least mention the fact that Meyerson's son told a different story, though the article focused more on the ethics of writing about family problems.
Drug war addiction is a tough habit to break. The whole press corps won't get it overnight. But, the real news is that many seem to be on their way.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: DrugSense Weekly (DSW)
Section: Feature Article
Website: DrugSense: Drug Law Reform
Author: Stephen Young
Note: Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly
