Press not doing its job on drug war

One aspect of our society we Americans are justly proud of is our
free press,and there is certainly no reason to believe that America's
media can be coercedinto speaking with a single voice. On the other
hand, a certain uniformity isnoted in the way certain subjects are
dealt with; one of those subjects is the drug war.

Public awareness depends as much on that news which is not reported
as it doeson what is; therefore, failure to carry an important story
is de factocensorship. In the same vein, uncritical overemphasis of
certain stories has asimilar effect. Two recent examples are the way
the national media dealt withthe two arcane and complex laboratory
studies of rats that were irresponsiblyand unreasonably claimed to
validate the longdiscredited "Gateway" theory that marijuana leads to
use of addictive drugs. This story was widely reported threeweeks ago
and received extensive editorial comment, almost all favorable to
the drugwar party line.

In contrast, the very important report of a successful threeyear
Swissexperiment with heroin maintenance reported on July 10 received
scant notice inthe American press. Shortened versions of the succinct
AP wire story were carried in only about 16 bigcity dailies. There was
no editorial comment. Why is this important? Already,
difficulttodocument references to an"unsuccessful" Swiss heroin
experiment are being made on talk and callinshows. Who is making
these statements is less important than the fact that such falsehoods
will acquire the status of "truth" in the absence of a
contradictory factual story.

Don't be afraid of the truth. Read it; it doesn't bite.

THOMAS J. O'CONNELL
San Mateo, Calif.
Via Internet

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