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 coerced into speaking with a single voice. On the other
hand, a certain uniformity is noted 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 does on what is; therefore, failure to carry an important story
is de factocensorship. In the same vein, uncritical overemphasis of
certain stories has a similar effect. Two recent examples are the way
the national media dealt with the two arcane and complex laboratory
studies of rats that were irresponsibly and unreasonably claimed to
validate the long-discredited "Gateway" theory that marijuana leads to
use of addictive drugs. This story was widely reported three weeks ago
and received extensive editorial comment, almost all favorable to
the drug-war party line.

In contrast, the very important report of a successful three-year
Swiss experiment with heroin maintenance reported on July 10 received
scant notice in the American press. Shortened versions of the succinct
AP wire story were carried in only about 16 big-city dailies. There was
no editorial comment. Why is this important?

Already, difficult-to-document references to an"unsuccessful" Swiss
heroin experiment are being made on talk and call-inshows. 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, Ca