Tuesday, March 18, 2008

The Mark Souder Marijuana Decriminalization Bill New Hampshire residents could possess one-quarter ounce or less of marijuana without facing jail under a bill headed to the state Senate. The House voted 193-141 Tuesday to decriminalize the small amount of the drug, making possessing it a violation subject to a $200 fine. Under current law, possessing that amount could mean spending a year in jail and paying a $2,000 fine. OK, that's something. Legalization is better, but $200 beats $2,000 plus jail. And here's the interesting part... Supporters argued current law costs youths who experiment with the drug all chances at receiving financial aid to attend college. They said it wasn't fair to penalize them for life for a youthful mistake. Windham Republican Jason Bedrick said he doesn't advocate using marijuana, but that wasn't the issue. "The question is whether a teenager making a stupid decision should face a year in prison and loss of all funding for college," said Bedrick. As Scott Morgan points out, the unconscionable harshness of the financial aid penalty promoted by Mark Souder may have actually led to this bill passing the NH House. 11:24:53 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

The Lie of Balance Congrats to friend Grits for Breakfast for reaching some blogging milestones. In the mandatory blogself-reflection that such milestones bring, he makes these observations: With the exception of occasional investigative articles or self-styled "analyses," modern journalism too often reverts to a formula where "fairness" and "balance" - to use the famous buzz words - prevail over "honesty" or "truth." [...] Reporters inevitably feel obligated to print "the other side," even when they know they're being misled. (A New York Times reporter famously said he was glad to quit covering Congress because he was tired of sitting around all day on marble slabs waiting for politicians to lie to him.) [...] To me, it's unethical for a reporter to promote arguments or fact propositions to their readers if they don't personally believe they're true, even if they quote "the other side," for "balance." A lie ain't a side of the story, it's just a lie. When reporters print a quote and don't tell readers they think it's misleading or obfuscatory, which happens ALL the time, IMO they do their readers a serious disservice. And journalists, don't tell me you "let the facts speak for themselves" - you're the writer, so you're speaking. Period. It's not just "the facts" but the facts you choose to present. Plus you're the one who researched the story - your readers presumably don't know as much as you do. [...] Newspapers frequently attribute their circulation decline to the rise of new technology, but IMO their greatest failing hasn't been a reliance on dead trees, but their insistence on clinging to an outdated and counterproductive approach to newsgathering and storytelling. People read blogs not to get information, for the most part, but to help decipher what news stories mean, a niche that's only available because of the shortcomings of hundred-year old journalistic canons and customs. So do not expect what you read here to be "fair" or "balanced" (though I try to be "honest" and "truthful," and admit mistakes when I make them). It's a good point, and one we run up against quite often in drug policy reform. It is what allows the drug czar to continue time and time again to widely distribute propaganda. The press will, for the most part, not fact check the claims or report that the data doesn't support the conclusions, but rather, at best, add a quote from a drug policy reform organization leader to show a difference of opinion. This point alone makes quality blogs a better place to read about drug policy than most of the other media. Now, to be sure, bloggers also often have a bit of advantage over other journalists in that they can specialize. I know more about drug policy that any journalist because that's pretty much all I write about. But that doesn't excuse the lack of integrity involved in standard media practice of knowingly putting forth misinformation. So no, you won't get balance here, either. But you'll get a lot of truth. (And if I'm wrong, someone will correct me). 11:05:28 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []