There's nothing good about drug use. We know it. It destroys individuals. It destroys families. Drug use destroys societies. Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. And the laws are good because we know what happens to people in societies and neighborhoods, which become consumed by them. And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up. What this says to me is that too many [...]
May
01
2002
The 'Oh Really?' Factor
Bill O'Reilly spins facts and statistics
By Peter Hart
If it's "spin" to back up your arguments with bogus facts and statistics, and to dismiss numbers that don't fit in with your preconceptions, then Bill O'Reilly's Fox News Channel show isn't, as he repeatedly claims, a "no-spin zone"-- it's Spin City. During an interview with National Organization for Women president Kim Gandy (O'Reilly Factor, 2/5/02), O'Reilly claimed that "58 percent of single-mom homes are on welfare." When Gandy questioned that figure, O'Reilly held firm: "You can't say no, Miss Gandy. That's the stat. You can't just dismiss it. . . . It’s 58 percent. That's what it is from [...]
Sep
01
2001
The New Crack
Which will it be--pot or Ecstasy?
In two remarkably similar front-page pieces earlier this year, both USA Today and the New York Times went in search of the new crack. In a May 19 article headlined "Violent Crimes Undercut Marijuana's Mellow Image," the Times nominated marijuana to be the next drug to be associated in the public mind with scary street crime; USA Today’s May 16 lead story, on the other hand, was "Ecstasy Drug Trade Turns Violent: The Rave Culture's 'Peace and Love' Pill Bloodies the Suburbs as Dealers Battle for Turf and Profits." Both stories started by linking the crack trade to their new [...]
Mar
08
2001
ABC Gives Drug Industry View on AIDS Drugs Dispute
On its March 7 broadcast, ABC's World News Tonight tried to give its viewers some background on the legal battle over pharmaceutical patents and AIDS drugs in Africa. But viewers only heard from one side in the debate: the drug companies and their supporters. The report, by ABC's Deborah Amos, relied on three sources: a spokesperson from the South African Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, the executive vice president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and an analyst from the Cato Institute, a conservative-libertarian think tank. All three promoted the same theme: Drug companies should not be blamed for [...]
Nov
01
2000
Raving Junk
Few outlets dissent from the latest teen-drug hysterias
By Mike Males
1980: The Washington Post's front-page profile (9/28/80) of "Jimmy," a black eight-year-old junkie, ignited pandemonium. Mayor Marion Barry ordered police and teachers to inspect children's arms for needle holes. Despite a $10,000 reward and intensive searches, neither Jimmy nor any other child addict was found. "Jimmy" did not exist, Post reporter Janet Cooke later confessed. 1996: Trainspotting panic erupted. In a story that would shame the National Enquirer, USA Today (7/19/96) declared "smoking or snorting smack is as commonplace as beer for the younger generation." Rolling Stone (5/30/96) branded Seattle "junkie town." Citing anecdotes, the article blamed Seattle's tripling in [...]
Jul
31
2000
Drug Czar Continues Assault on First Amendment
Once again, White House Drug Czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey is using federal funding to bribe corporations to surreptitiously insert government-approved messages into media content. Salon.com (1/13/00) first broke the story that McCaffrey was giving TV networks a financial incentive to put messages about drugs into entertainment programming. Congress authorized McCaffrey's Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to place millions of dollars' worth of anti-drug commercials, but with the condition that the TV industry donate time for similar public service announcements. McCaffrey, however, has allowed the networks to avoid giving up valuable ad space to public service announcements by giving [...]
May
01
2000
Colombia's Cocaine Shell Game
Media are leading the U.S. into a civil war in the name of the
By Peter Hart
After the crash of a U.S. Army reconnaissance plane in July 1999 that killed seven people (including five U.S. military personnel), the question of U.S. involvement in Colombia re-emerged on the media radar screen. Journalists wondered whether "the U.S. could wind up in a fight it doesn’t want" (NBC Nightly News, 1/16/00), with many reporters acknowledging a certain inattention to the story: "It may not be widely known, but the United States is already engaged in the Colombian civil war," NPR reported (7/26/99). Early in 2000, Congressional debate has centered on a two-year, $1.7 billion aid package for the Latin [...]
Jul
16
1999
ABC Agrees With Drug Industry
Affordable Medicine for Africans Is Dangerous
On July 8, ABC's World News Tonight aired two stories on the subject of treating AIDS in African countries. ABC's conclusion: It's better for poor Africans to die than to have access to cheap AIDS drugs. The South African government is currently in a trade dispute with the United States over this issue: South Africa, which is in the midst of an AIDS epidemic, claims the right to license local pharmaceutical manufacturers to produce cheap generic versions of AIDS drugs that would otherwise be unaffordable for poor South Africans. The U.S. has taken the side of American pharmaceutical companies, who [...]
