cannabisnews.com: Walters' Propaganda Won't Hold Water





Walters' Propaganda Won't Hold Water
Posted by CN Staff on May 19, 2005 at 08:47:57 PT
By Jordan Smith
Source: Austin Chronicle 
Texas -- So far, May has not been a good month for federal drug czar John Walters. During a May 3 press conference, Walters, head of the White House Office of the National Drug Control Policy, once again trotted out his tired-ass lines about the scourge of marijuana, claiming that the July suicide of 15-year-old Christopher Skaggs in Colorado is an example of the "growing body of evidence" that "smoking marijuana can increase the risk of serious mental health problems," including depression, suicidal thoughts, and schizophrenia. Walters was backed up by Skaggs' mother, who told the Rocky Mountain News that her son's counselor said that marijuana use contributed to her son's depression. "This press conference," Walters told reporters, "is a public health warning." Marijuana, he repeated, is a "very dangerous drug."
Unfortunately for Walters, it isn't entirely clear that the Skaggs story backs up his claim. Later that week, during an interview on a Denver talk-radio program, Skaggs' parents said that Skaggs was drug tested regularly in the months leading up to his suicide, but did not test positive for pot, and that postmortem toxicology results found "nothing in his system but alcohol at that time." On May 12, the Marijuana Policy Project cried foul, lashing out at Walters for misleading the press about the circumstances of Skaggs' death. "Walters should be ashamed for exploiting this family's suffering to perpetrate a fraud on the media and the public," said MPP's Steve Fox in a press release. "The evidence connecting alcohol abuse to suicide and depression is overwhelming, but he simply ignored it in order to further his obsession with marijuana." Still, Skaggs' parents told the Rocky Mountain News that they stand by their conclusion that marijuana played a part in their son's death – a conclusion solidly, and not surprisingly, supported by Walters' office. "It truly is despicable to belittle [the Skaggs'] very courageous and important contribution to this public health effort," said an ONDCP spokeswoman. Meanwhile, on May 11, Walters' office was dubbed a "federal wasteland" by the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste. According to a new report by the group, the ONDCP has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars fighting the "war on drugs" – including about $2 billion per year since 1996 to thwart state efforts to regulate medical marijuana. In 2002 alone, Walters spent $96 million to place anti-marijuana ads in states with medi-pot initiatives on the ballot. While the so-called National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign (created in the wake of successful medi-pot ballot initiatives in Arizona and California) was supposedly created to educate youth about the dangers of drugs, the CAGW report charges that in reality it is nothing more than a "thinly-veiled propaganda scheme focused on curtailing further medicinal marijuana initiatives on state ballots." Indeed, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that since 1998, the media campaign has had no tangible effect on drug use. "It is irresponsible of the ONDCP to use taxpayer dollars to fly around the country pushing for states to vote no on marijuana initiatives," the CAGW concludes. "When the federal government infringes upon states' rights and influences ballot decisions, it undermines the 10th Amendment." Source: Austin Chronicle (TX)Author: Jordan SmithPublished: May 20, 2005Copyright: 2005 Austin Chronicle Corp.Contact: louis auschron.comWebsite: http://www.auschron.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/ Drug Czar Blasted Over Pot Storyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20676.shtmlCAGW Report Exposes Futility of Drug Policyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20670.shtmlDrug Czar Links Marijuana To Mental Healthhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20620.shtml
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Comment #23 posted by i420 on May 20, 2005 at 03:48:12 PT
Food for thought..
Wlater's made me think of a qote I read ...goes something like this...
 
Sometimes it better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.
                Honest Abe Lincoln
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Comment #22 posted by JHarshaw on May 20, 2005 at 01:52:11 PT
Greetings
Thanx FoM, I appreciate that.
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on May 19, 2005 at 20:40:49 PT
afterburner
Yoda is so cool. We don't want to go to the movies to see it but if it's available around Christmas we will buy a copy.
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Comment #20 posted by afterburner on May 19, 2005 at 20:31:21 PT
My Son and I Saw the Midnight Show of Star Wars...
last night. During a battle scene between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Sidious, I couldn't help but think of Darth Bushious, another follower of the 'Dark Side.'As Yoda said, "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."The prohibitionists are afraid of the cannabists, so the former pass angry laws. When we fight back, they become even more hateful. Their hateful vendetta causes much suffering. But now, their hatred has caused them to be so blatantly vindictive, wasteful and dishonest that their former supporters, sycophants and brainwashed masses are turning on them causing the prohibitionists to begin suffering.Pity Johnny P. surrounded by the attack dogs of reason.
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on May 19, 2005 at 20:04:49 PT
 JHarshaw 
I just wanted to say it's nice to see you. 
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Comment #18 posted by JHarshaw on May 19, 2005 at 19:47:24 PT
re comment #9
You're right. The best show I've seen was on Jesse Ventura's America and they hauled his a** off the air in a hurry.
http://pot.tv/ram/pottvshowse2365.ram
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Comment #17 posted by mayan on May 19, 2005 at 18:07:14 PT
FAUX News
FNC's 25-54 Prime "Downward Spiral":
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/fncs_2554_prime_downward_spiral_20939.asp
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on May 19, 2005 at 15:22:03 PT
Taylor
For me I must watch my blood pressure so I avoid O'Reilly as much as possible LOL. I wonder if the new Star Wars movie will be good. Heck today I found out this is the 6th one. I thought there were only 3! I do believe it will be worth buying when it's available on DVD.
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Comment #15 posted by Taylor121 on May 19, 2005 at 14:50:28 PT
O'Reilly Ego
Haha, the guy is off the charts with his ego no doubt about it. But honestly, that's why I watch his show. I find it entertaining and sometimes he really is right.Rarely though is he right about marijuana. However, to be fair, O'Reilly supports two things favorable to our movement. Fining instead of jail and medical marijuana. So I can't rag on him too hard, and I do agree with him quite a bit.
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on May 19, 2005 at 14:38:15 PT
JR Yes He Did
O'Reilly did say what you said but Ron Reagan said it should be legalized. He said it nicely too. No arrogance in his voice and pleasant in his demeanor and he likes Neil Young. ( I had to add that! ) O'Reilly really loves himself a lot! O'Reilly doesn't need an audience just a mirror! LOL!
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Comment #13 posted by Hope on May 19, 2005 at 14:19:46 PT
media...again
Maybe that's true about gun control, but little else. With the air waves full of guys like O'Reilly and Limbaugh, I just don't get how they can see it that way.
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Comment #12 posted by Hope on May 19, 2005 at 14:18:02 PT
Media
Republicans I know rant that the media is biased toward the left. I sure don't see it that way. It seems so strange that they see it that way.
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on May 19, 2005 at 14:08:36 PT
Max Flowers 
I agree we need a news channel that shows our side. I don't watch Fox because I know it is a right wing channel. Last night I just stopped and saw they were talking about the new star wars movie and heard him say what he did. I find him self righteous and arrogant and has a big superiority complex and that's a big turn off for me.
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Comment #10 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on May 19, 2005 at 13:57:14 PT
I hate to defend O'Reilly, but...
Bill O'Reilly did once say on his show that he thinks people smoking pot in their basement should not be treated as criminals. 
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Comment #9 posted by Max Flowers on May 19, 2005 at 13:44:04 PT
FoM
It's my opinion that Bill O'Reilly does a lot of damage with his biased rants. Mind you, I don't begrudge him his right to speak out, but I find it maddening that there is no liberal equivalent with his own TV show to balance it out. Where's Al Franken? His radio thing is obviously not having much impact; he should be on TV not radio.
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Comment #8 posted by stoner spirit on May 19, 2005 at 13:11:40 PT:
The truth
Thank the Gods! The truth is finally coming out of the media, slowly but surely. I can't wait until the lyers are turned upside down, but I must be patient, I guess.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on May 19, 2005 at 12:12:43 PT
Truth
You know it's time that people stand up and say that they use Cannabis as inspiration if they do. I really do believe most artists who make it to the top did so because of Cannabis use because Cannabis makes a person think and dream and then create.
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Comment #6 posted by Truth on May 19, 2005 at 11:49:02 PT
yeah
With out a doubt entheogenic plants can add to the creative process. Ask the Beatles.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on May 19, 2005 at 10:47:51 PT
Just a Comment
Last night I turned on O'Reilly. They were talking about this new Star Wars movie. He said it will be a big success because all the Stoned Slackers will go and watch it at least ten times. I could be wrong in the wording a little. Then later on he complimented the Stoned Slackers. He said they are smart. I said that because it's true. Stoned Slackers make cool animated commercials and are good computer folks. I can't help but feel the really cool ecomagination commercial by G.E. with the dancing elephant had to have been created by our side.
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Comment #4 posted by billos on May 19, 2005 at 10:28:39 PT
.................Wastland.....................
being run by the biggest waste of all. Johnny Pee."A mind is a terrible thing to waste"
      In Johnny's case:"A waste is a terrible thing to mind"
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Comment #3 posted by PainWithNoInsurance on May 19, 2005 at 09:57:16 PT
A Good Quote !
 Walters' office was dubbed a "federal wasteland"Exactly!
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on May 19, 2005 at 09:46:20 PT:
Slowly, fitfully, lurchingly
the media is starting to 'get it'. Tax dollars. Hatch Act violations. (Despite the ONDCP saying they weren't; webbed feet, yellow bill, quacks, flaps its' wings and swims, yep, it IS a duck after all.) Interference in State politics. Lies. Dissembling. Propaganda. Too bad too many editors have their own biases...largely political.*Authentic journalist* Dan Forbes was onto these guys YEARS ago; they should contact him for the juicy parts. 
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Comment #1 posted by Truth on May 19, 2005 at 09:09:17 PT
Great article
Excellent!The TRUTH comes out.
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