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Media Dustup Pits Bloggers and Wired Against NYTimes
destinyland writes "Wired magazine ran a table listing the scientific effects of prescription drugs (and one illegal drug) — leading to an accusation from the NYTimes that they were 'promoting' drug use. But this routine controversy led to a fierce pushback online from bloggers and from Wired's reporter, who discussed his past drug use on his own blog and called for an honest discussion of scientific evidence and straight talk about medical effects."
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to stewed, or blasted, or ...
I flip on the TV and I see people promoting drug use all the time /shrug. And some of the side affects of those make me sick just to hear it.
It is listed in DEA schedule II. Truly illegal drugs (like heroin and pot)are Schedule I.
Methamphetamine is available on prescription under the brand name Desoxyn:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desoxyn
Remember "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters"? Help make it a reality again! http://soylentnews.org
I know I certainly don't. On that note I'm tired of all the main stream media in the US. It's all lies and talking points. Watch the news some night and flip back and forth between the channels, or better yet catch a few with the DVR at 7 and 11. Get different samples from the two time slots and tell me what's different. Nothing, other than the filler material. They even use the same verbage most of the time. So I figure this is all coming from a very small group of sources (probably AP wire considering how lazy the media is). Which means that you can't really trust it. Hell I don't know how many times recently we've seen articles about the media being duped by someone or something. So that means to me that they don't vet their stories or sources properly anymore. Fuck it, at least the ratings and the revenues are up, god forbid the profit margin shrinks.
Winking is serious business.
Who cares if they were anyway? Its their magazine, they can say what ever they want. Or has it become illegal to express your beliefs?
---- Booth was a patriot ----
.......That William Randolph Hearst and his Yellow-journalism fueled the war on drugs in the first place, the Media are the LAST people I trust to provide me with reliable information in regards to drugs.
As a matter of fact, I don't trust anyone to provide me with information regarding drugs anymore. Guv'ment included. The DEA website is so full of blatant propaganda, I find it hard to believe anyone can take it seriously
And besides, I seriously doubt anyone has my best interests in mind more then myself.
I usually find on slow news days the media likes to run stories that get people angry about drugs. Its one of those topics that everyone has an opinion on, enough to get some kind of emotive response and engage the readers/viewers, whether its from what Amy Winehouse put up her nose to more political issues like legality or protecting your children.
It's been a year since I deleted the New York Times from my news media diet, and I haven't looked back (pardon the mixed metaphor). I was willing to forgive them for Jayson Blair nonsense, but Judith Miller's warmongering lies masquerading as journalism seriously damaged its credibility. And with the Times' caustic, perverted coverage of the Duke Lacrosse rape trial, any last shred of integrity they had in my eyes went out the window.
The Times has discarded their long tradition of conscientious news gathering in favor of making money, and it shows. At least we know how they paid for their shiny new skyscraper.
It's a sad commentary on the stupidity of our drug laws that heroin and marijuana get lumped into the same category.
It is almost impossible to have a large discussion about drugs and medical effects in the public sphere. There is a massive, taxpayer funded multi-media campaign from the U.S. federal government that has for many years taught a large fraction of the public a series of messages about drugs that are just plain false. Almost anyone with significant experience with using these same drugs knows this to be the case, but their voices are typically marginalized or not taken seriously.
I'm suing Wired. Even though my lawyer said not to mention anything outside the courtroom, the Wired article enticed me to try ALL of those drugs in order to rescue my failing career.
Under the Aderall, everyone that passed my cube though I was calling them names. That resulted in an unpleasant meeting where I swore at my boss.
With the Aniracetam, I had the unpleasant assignment of examining the weld quality on some Ambassor Bridge repairs. Thank goodness for fall harnesses!
I don't even want to recall the embarrassment at work when taking the Aricept. It was like first grade all over again.
Methamphetamine was probably my best try. I had to stop taking it when I was sent home for "the nerves."
The Modafinil made everyone think I actually *did* something with the stripper in the back room at the club, and worse, that it was contagious.
The Nicotine just got met cited by the county for violating workplace rules. It actually worked out quite well, but the $250 smoking fines really add up, ya know?
The Rolipram was a little better than the Aricept. You get much more sympathy when everything comes out from above rather than from below.
I'm currently taking Vasopressin. For some reason, people keep telling me to chew my food before I swallow it.
Maybe I shouldn't have taken them in the prescribed order? In any case, don't tell my attorney. Something about "spoiling my case."
--Jim (me)
Ever since it failed to address its support for the Bush administration with respect to the invasion of Iraq, the New York Times has become steadily less relevant. I don't know whether they believe only old, right-wing fossils still read newspapers or whether they're having trouble recruiting quality staff on the wages they're willing to pay. Whatever the problem, they should either fix it, or just turn out the lights and go home.
Wired has always published its share of articles written with a smart-ass or tongue-in-cheek tone, and its audience both likes them and understands that they're not intended to be taken as gospel. The Times reviewer is clearly from the "full body armour to ride a bicycle" school of saving us all from ourselves.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
Some people make good choices in life, some make poor ones. If a kid gets hooked on meth because of a mention in Wired, there's a certainly a problem; it's definitely not with Wired.
Even people that believe in pre-destiny look both ways before crossing the street.
How dare they make it look so cool and sexy!
I think the previous poster's point, which you missed, is that if a person is so gullible that they'll do something just because they read about it somewhere, then we might as well give up and wait to die. The point is that people have to be smart enough to do a bit of research and think a little bit for themselves.
I can tell you with absolute certainty that my view on free will is not going to be changed by my child making a poor decision in the future.
If we have to temper everything we say in the public sphere based on the reaction of the lowest common denominator of society, we're going nowhere fast.
The world is full of pitfalls and dangerous stuff. There's no end to the stuff that could hurt or kill you. But pretending that stuff doesn't exist isn't going to keep people safe from it.
Even people that believe in pre-destiny look both ways before crossing the street.
Honestly, if a magazine article does a better job at getting your kids hooked on drugs than you are at keeping them off, I'm placing the blame solely on YOU, the parent. Stop passing the buck.
Maybe if we taught them that they'd choose medication or coping-skills over addiction.
When you start to view balanced information as promotion you've clearly lost your way.
Quack, quack.
Fun fact: many 'roids shrink your junk.
Kind of puts the whole thing in perspective, doesn't it?
Try not to take me more seriously than I take myself.
My concentration was so bad before I took crystal meth that I couldn't take the rest of the sentence in.
By the way, did you know that self mutilation with a chainsaw can shed weight quicker than any known diet and exercise regime? Oh, and it may cause death or permanent disability.
My god, what have I done?
I don't therefore I'm not.
you moron. i'm a recovering meth addict; i also know a lot of other recovering meth addicts. i can tell you for a fact that none of us started using this drug due to reading a blog post. a weak person who is swayed to use a drug due to a blog post is the same person who would use the drug if a random person gave it to them on the street. you have no clue what you're talking about.
I mean seriously? Haven't they lost ALL credibility by now?
Even you ultra-libs have to laugh at that bespectacled tween in the ads who says she turns to the old grey litterbox liner to "find out what's happening on the web".
Last I checked, the leftmedia echo chamber had moved to the Huffington Post. (Who hired Hilary Rosen, she of the RIAA, so where does that leave us?)
The core market are old and dying. Even inventing the news hasn't resurrected circulation.
Heroin gets you constipated. It's not dangerous to the body in and of itself. Look it up, you won't find any physical side effects other than constipation and perhaps itching. It's addictive as hell but its side effects are very mild compared to most other drugs.
Don't think anyone has linked it yet:
Original wired article
For those of you who have watched the "BBC Horizon - 2008-02-05 - Is Alcohol Worse than Ecstasy?" [available at http://www.mininova.org/tor/1173622%5D realize that alcohol and tobacco are among the worst offenders when it comes to drugs. I turn on the TV at times (very few times) and see wholesale promotion of drug use by budweiser, Miller, and a whole slew of drug-pushing beer companies. I say legalize ALL drugs and sell them including alcohol and tobacco ONLY at state drug stores and tax them all. I'm tired of all of the drug related crime here and abroad. Put all drugs on a level playing field, don't promote one dangerous one over another. Scott Emick Euclid, Ohio
Being mad at the Times for inaccurate, biased or fear mongering articles is like being mad a dog when he nips you. He's a DOG! That's what he does! Being mad at the NYT is just as silly. Trust them like you would Entertainment Tonight.
But you can train a dog not to nip you...How do you train the NYT? Roll them up and hit them on the nose with themselves?
I live in the UK where it _could_ be said that drug laws (particularly the classification of Cannabis) are in flux. There was an interesting program on television that asked many health and drug proffesionals to rank many common legal and illegal drugs by their harm to the body (toxcicity) and their harm to society, very intersting that one of the lowest was ecstacy (18/20) and top three (from memmory) were heroin, coccaine and alcohol with tobbaco up there as well. Tobbaco advertising has been banned almost everywhere, yet alcohol is advertised on TV. Oh the disparity. All the 'debates' or discussions about drugs are so massively one-sidded, in order to have a proper debate you have to talk about the all aspects of drug taking, including the benefits of why people would take them. Maybe then we will get some straight answers as to what we should 'do about drugs'. We need to have a real, reasoned debate about drugs and their effects on society. But you find me a politician/lawmaker who will stand up and actually talk about benefits of taking drugs.
Meanwhile, behind the innocent facade of an old hat shop......
If you have not heard of it yet, the newest drug battle is an herb called salvia. It is supposed to provide a short hallucinagenic effect and is available over the counter in many places. State governments have moved to create laws to ban it locally, but the DEA has still not scheduled it. There has been no hard evidence of negative health effects. It will be interesting to see how the DEA classifies it and what the justification is. Salvia might be the rallying point for reform of drug laws, or it could just become another marijuana. Worst of all, the news media has spread FUD about kids getting HIGH using COMPLETELY LEGAL OVER THE COUNTER herbs from MEXICO.