Is Reuters drinking bong water?

[Nbadan]

I'm not advocating smoking weed, but I also don't advocate throwing people in jail for possessing weed

Stupidest Drug Story of the Week
Is Reuters drinking bong water?
By Jack Shafer
Posted Friday, April 27, 2007

Why don't the hacks who cover the illicit-drug beat just turn their keyboards over to the drug-abuse industrial complex and let them write the stories?

This week, Reuters moved a story based on a government press release about marijuana potency issued by the Office of National Drug Control Policy—the office of "drug czar" John P. Walters. The press release and the Reuters story state that marijuana potency has reached its highest level since the government started monitoring it in the late 1970s. The average levels of THC in marijuana now stand at 8.5 percent. (THC is the primary active ingredient in marijuana.) This compares to a little less than the 4 percent measured in 1983.

Headlined "U.S. Marijuana Even Stronger Than Before: Report" on Reuters' Web site, the piece quotes nobody outside of government as it channels drug warrior hysteria.

As this drug-czar chart shows, the average percentage of THC in cannabis samples analyzed by the ongoing Marijuana Potency Monitoring Project at the University of Mississippi has increased over the years. Assuming for just a moment that these findings accurately reflect marijuana potency, I've got a question: So what?

Slate

Jim Hightower: The Government's Sick War on Marijuana

It's silly that you can have crimes like car theft expunged from your record, but get caught with a joint and that stays we you forever.

It's time to close down the marijuana-industrial complex.

[Nbadan]

This story comes out at the same time, confirming what many minorities have always known, , even cops know it..

Minorities More Likely To Be Searched, Arrested Than Whites

A new federal study shows black and Hispanic drivers fare worse than whites during traffic stops.

Justice Department research finds black, Hispanic and white drivers are equally likely to be pulled over by police, but the minority drivers are more likely to be searched and arrested.

The study released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics found blacks were searched nearly 10 percent of the time. That compares with Hispanics about 9 percent of the time and whites less than 4 percent of the time. Blacks were more than twice as likely as whites to be arrested, with Hispanics in the middle.

The results are based on police contacts with the public in 2005.

Minority groups have claimed that many traffic stops and searches are based on race rather than legitimate su ions. The director of the NAACP's Washington bureau said the information is sketchy but "deeply concerning."

Linky

Profiling = Racism - no doubt about it.

[Mr. Peabody]

This story comes out at the same time, confirming what many minorities have always known, , even cops know it..

Minorities More Likely To Be Searched, Arrested Than Whites



Linky

Profiling = Racism - no doubt about it.

C'mon, I don't believe it.....

[cholo]

pinche 50

[RandomGuy]

I'm not advocating smoking weed, but I also don't advocate throwing people in jail for possessing weed

Stupidest Drug Story of the Week
Is Reuters drinking bong water?
By Jack Shafer
Posted Friday, April 27, 2007



Slate

Jim Hightower: The Government's Sick War on Marijuana

It's silly that you can have crimes like car theft expunged from your record, but get caught with a joint and that stays we you forever.

It's time to close down the marijuana-industrial complex.

I would agree. There are better uses for my tax money.

[mookie2001]

but Ded!, it was just a little weed!

[xrayzebra]

Ah yes, our buddy Jim Hightower, the expert
on nothing. I thought he left the country for
some left wing country.