CourierMail - The Media Scourge

The CourierMail is currently running a scare fest on drugs in Queensland titled, “The Drugs Scourge” . Being a News Ltd owned newspaper, you wouldn’t expect much in the way of rationality and accuracy yet I must say I was really surprised. Really surprised because it was even worse than I imagined. It’s like they have taken the worst from A Current Affair/Today, had it rewritten by Piers Akerman, Chris Pyne and Bronwyn Bishop and then edited by John Howard. It’s a shocker!

One of the glaring over dramatisations is the effects of ecstasy on Queensland society. Shocking headlines like “Bad Ecstasy Trip Is Agony” and “Drug-Fuelled Revellers Rife” conveniently mix up heavy methamphetamine use with casual ecstasy use creating a modern day “Reefer Madness” but with amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS).

The Queensland club scene is described as some sort of post apocalyptic alternative future where a drug crazed youth are MDMA zombies. Where an epidemic of “Party Drugs” is wiping out an entire generation. Where our innocent kids are being reeled into a life of drug addiction where carnage and death are the inevitable results. Out of dozens of articles though, there is only a single report on whether current drug policies are working.

Watch as channel nine’s Sarah Harris and Lisa Wilkinson report on the CourierMail’s investigation called, The Drugs Scourge! Warning: This is not a comedy skit.




Where do I start? Maybe with the main cause of harm from ecstasy ... prohibition. They are right by saying that ecstasy pills are full of unwanted ingredients but this is purely because they are illegal. And as the serious looking Sarah Harris explains, 10 people have died from PMA in ecstasy over the last 10 years ... a pretty good record really considering millions of doses are taken annually. Why didn’t she say “only” 10 people have died? They keep mentioning that unknown ingredients or dangerous contaminants are the real danger but where was the call for pill testing or regulating MDMA sales? I suppose common sense doesn’t rate very well.

Glossing over the differences between amphetamines and ecstasy is just as deceitful. Although they come from the same class, they are very different drugs and share almost none of the same levels of harm. Abusing amphetamines can be very dangerous but most users do so recreationally. Some fact checking will show that amphetamines are not actually addictive at all but can cause dependancy. Stating that 33% of first time users become addicted is just not true. No drug known to man is instantly addictive.

They see their mate take one and nothing happens, they take one themselves and nothing happens and all of a sudden, they’re hooked. 
-Dr. Bob Hoskins. Queensland Health

Is this how the public source their information about drugs? No wonder there is no rational debate in parliament about our drug laws with much of the population completely ignorant to facts. The role of the media has to be called into question over this. Not just the hysterical trash reporting but the lack of critical analysis from other media outlets. The CourierMail’s report is ripe for being pulled apart and exposed as misleading and often untruthful but I am yet to find one article disputing the legitimacy of the report. But it’s not just the reporting that is full of misinformation but some of the so called “experts” who are happy to add their own interpretation of the truth.

You wouldn't give it to your dog let alone take it yourself [...] Look, it's a drug, it can be abused. I think you could never safely administer it.
-Detective Kerry Johnson - State Drug Investigation Unit

Is anything more annoying than a condescending reporter who knows stuff all about what they are saying? Apart from having to sit through the clip’s entirety, not much. Even the detective with his fanciful connections between casual ecstasy use and 25 years in jail doesn’t compare. I dare say that this clip is going into the drug propaganda archives along with Reefer Madness.

You think about it, here you are, come from a good family, a good upbringing, great surrounds, you've got no reason why and suddendly you're facing court on drug trafficking. You're going to loose your liberty for a long time and probably very little sympathy from us too.
-Detective Kerry Johnson - State Drug Investigation Unit

Asset seizures, 25 years in jail, loss of liberty... this is what will happen if you start giving ecstasy to your friends says Detective Kerry Johnson. LOL. But his bizarre warning backed up with “probably very little sympathy from us” is when it becomes disturbing. He paints a gloomy picture but it is exactly what the Courier-Mail wanted - doom and gloom. But the figures don’t add up. With tens of thousands of weekend users and well over 10 million ecstasy pills dropped each year, there is very little evidence of the carnage portrayed by The CourierMail and Detective Johnson.

Continually time and again we see it escalates from, I just take the odd pill at a party or a rave night or whatever it might be, to, I only supply my 2-3 friends and that might pay for my pill and that sort of deal is pretty harmless. The amount of time it escalates to the level where all of sudden their in the organised crime area, they're selling quite a lot of pills, they're getting themselves into debt trying to maintain a lifestyle. Next thing you know they're facing a charge from us, let alone the 25 years imprisonment for trafficking, you're also then looking at the case of significant asset seizure through restraints, proceeds of crime legislation.
-Detective Kerry Johnson - State Drug Investigation Unit

What really scares me is the zest to portray ecstasy as some new terrifying drug that has sent society into a never ending tail spin of chaos and despair. The zest of Detective Kerry Johnson to catch ecstasy users and dealers with the goal of ruining their lives as much as possible. The zest to scare parents and the public into a stupor of fear and worry. And for what? A drug that is rated by experts as much, much less harmful than alcohol?

Is the Truth Important?
Like all good trashy journalism, an appropriate headline is essential. Drugs menace uncovered, How addiction leads to jail, Bad ecstasy trip is agony, Drug users' Russian roulette, Drug-fuelled revellers rife, Ecstasy's deadly cocktail, Mail system delivers death and more. I suppose some balanced reporting is out of the question. Maybe something along the lines of Ecstasy found to be much safer than alcohol, UK Government report recommends lowering ecstasy danger rating, Alcohol causing more problems than all illicit drugs combined, Expert groups want cannabis legalised, Government ignores their own scientific report on drugs, Politician admits he inhaled and enjoyed it etc. Some examples of the what the CourierMail calls the truth:

Safe injecting rooms have been tried. Heroin trials have been conducted. Everything from decriminalisation to including drug education in school curriculums has been discussed.
-We need a leader for drugs battle

Heroin trials have been conducted - that’s news to me. Safe injecting rooms have been tried - this is past tense. They mean to say, a safe injecting room is being successfully operated in NSW. Decriminalisation being discussed? Several states have decriminalised cannabis for personal use already but it has certainly not been seriously discussed by the federal government. The Greens have shown that the 2 major political parties are not ready for any discussion on drug policy alternatives like decriminalisation. When the Greens suggested Australia consider decriminalisation they were abused and scoffed at as radical weirdoes by Labor and The Libs.

DRUGS are the No. 1 risk young people face and the Federal Government's focus on binge drinking means it is missing the problem, a Liberal MP and former adviser to John Howard has warned.
-Booze focus misses top risk of drugs, says Jamie Briggs

Drugs are NOT the number one problem. That’s just wishful thinking from the media and conservative politicians.

It is ecstasy, of all amphetamines, that shapes as the timebomb. One in four Australians aged 20-29 has tried the drug – and numbers are escalating each year.
-Drug trade's tragic toll and institutional ignorance revealed

When the facts are against you, it’s best to play on the unknown. The illusion of a future drug crazed nation is standard fare for the media because in reality it never actually happens. One in four(20-29) might have tried ecstasy but those that have problems with it are negligible. The only option left for an excited journalist is to use ridiculous comments like this ... “It is ecstasy, of all amphetamines, that shapes as the timebomb”. hehehehe. The writer, Matthew Fynes-Clinton and the CourierMail have hit new depths of deception and silliness.

Murdoch and His Trash Media Empire
In this age of information, how can a major media outlet like the CourierMail produce so much bullshit? Is this acceptable for an advanced society? Where is the scrutiny from the media or why isn’t there some authority questioning the legitimacy of this crap? If the subject was different like diabetics or mental health, I’m sure there would be an uproar. Is it because the CourierMail are playing along with the views of the 2 major political parties or because the public accept these distorted articles as factual?

We can no longer criticise the English Tabloids or Fox News in the US for being biased, sensationalist and trash media when we have the equivalent like the CourierMail, Daily Telegraph, HeraldSun etc. We do however have to take some of the blame as we are the country that produced the owner of all this trash media. The worst of the English Tabloids, Fox News and Australia’s News Ltd newspapers are all owned by former Australian, Rupert Murdoch.

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