MAPTalk-Digest Thursday, December 18 2008 Volume 08 : Number 090
001 Traditional Media is alive and well
From: Richard Lake <>
002 US: What is the DEA Smoking?
From: Allan Erickson <>
003 US: Web: Drug Czar of My Dreams
From: Richard Lake <>
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Subj: 001 Traditional Media is alive and well
From: Richard Lake <>
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:11:04 -0800
At 06:50 PM 12/16/08, Kevin Zeese wrote:
>Excellent. I've seen some of your articles and they are well done. A few
>other reformers do so as well. No doubt there are many more people in ARO
>who could be doing the same.
>
>There are a lot of outlets and readers on the web and reformers should be
>regularly published on web news sites and blogs. Traditional media is in
>major trouble. Advertising is way down as is readership/viewership. The
>peak for newspaper readership was way back in 1984 and had dropped about one
>third since then. The tipping point between web vs. traditional media is
>coming quickly. The reform movement should be all over it as it is much
>more friendly than the traditional media to the reform perspective. If it
>done aggressively enough I expect we will be successful in forcing the
>traditional media to cover reform views more by normalizing our issues in
>the news.
>
>KZ
Kevin,
Al Neuharth, an expert on the newspaper industry, has written in his
USA TODAY Plain Talk columns twice this year about the continued
success of the newspapers which are not among the top 100 in the
United States.
His analysis follows studies which show that community newspapers, in
small towns and in communities within the large cities, are doing
well, often increasing readership in hard times.
Some suggest this is because those who become unemployed or who fear
becoming so look to their community newspapers not just for jobs but
also for ways to save money.
Mr. Neuharth writes that there are about 6,000 of these community
newspapers in the United States. The large majority of them do not
see the need to participate in Audit Bureau of Circulations audits
(which are not free). About the only way to find out about their
circulation trends is to call them and hope you get an honest answer.
However, they are superb targets for letters to the editor.
Unlike the top major newspapers who are tending to want shorter
letters as they reduce the number of pages they print community
newspapers often welcome letters of three or four hundred words - and
longer OPEDs as long as they are not asked to pay for the OPEDs.
I see the success folks have with letters on our side every day. Just
look at the newspapers our top 100 published letter writers are
published in at http://www.mapinc.org/lte/topwrit.htm The very large
majority are community newspapers.
Of course the major on line forums are good targets for reform
writers as you suggest, Kevin. But the community newspapers are still also.
Many on line forums don't even come close to the readership of even
the smallest of community newspapers where anything a reformer gets
printed will have well over a thousand readers.
On the web we never really know how many folks read what we write, be
it in forums, blogs, whatever, just as I will never know how many
folks actually read this.
Richard Lake
Senior Editor
DrugNews
www.mapinc.org
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Subj: 002 US: What is the DEA Smoking?
From: Allan Erickson <>
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:03:17 -0800
What is the DEA Smoking?
http://www.nationalinterest.org/Article.aspx?id=20386
ae
http://morningdonut.blogspot.com/
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Subj: 003 US: Web: Drug Czar of My Dreams
From: Richard Lake <>
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:11:07 -0800
Newshawk: Kirk
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Dec 2008
Source: Huffington Post (US Web)
Copyright: 2008 HuffingtonPost com, Inc.
Website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Author: Matthew M. Elrod
Cited: Christian Science Monitor editorial
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n1087/a11.html
Cited: Obama Drug Czar Pick: No Recovery from War on Drugs
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n000/a126.html
Referenced: Drug Czar of My Dreams http://www.drugczarofmydreams.com/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Obama
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?179 (Nadelmann, Ethan)
Drug Czar of My Dreams
For over 35 years America's war at home, the Drug War, has been
raging. Owing in large part to drug war excesses, the United States
now locks up more of its citizens than any nation on earth -- more
than 2.3 million, with half a million of them behind bars for
nonviolent drug offenses alone. That is more than Western Europe,
with a much higher population, incarcerates for all crimes combined.
The historic election of Barack Obama signals a unique opportunity to
begin to heal one of America's worst open sores and end the drug war,
but that is not going to happen unless President-elect Obama
nominates someone exceptional to the position of drug czar, or
director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
The appointment of "moderate" will not be sufficient, particularly
when President-elect Obama's stated goals are to repeal the harshest
drug sentences, remove federal bans on syringe-exchange funding to
reduce HIV/AIDS, allow medical cannabis research, and support
treatment alternatives for low-level drug offenders.
The Christian Science Monitor recently opined, "In his selection of a
'drug czar,' President-elect Obama needs to place more emphasis on
addiction as a health problem," Christian Science Monitor, December
3, 2008. Columnist Maia Szalavitz, who covers addiction and treatment
issues, perhaps put it best, "We need someone who knows the science,
recognizes that there are many paths to recovery -- and understands
that dead addicts can't recover," "Obama Drug Czar Pick: No Recovery
from War on Drugs?", Huffington Post, November 21, 2008.
A significant reallocation of scarce resources from criminal justice
to public health solutions is long overdue, but drug policy is
multi-disciplinary and international in scope. We have had cops,
doctors and soldiers. Call me crazy, but I think our drug czar should
be an experienced drug policy expert who comprehends the full
breadth, depth and importance of this issue on day one.
I have seen Reps. Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul, and Judge Jim P. Gray
suggested in comments appended to articles and blog posts on the
topic, but I think Dr. Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the
Drug Policy Alliance, personifies the consummate drug policy expert,
in both domestic and international affairs, that I would like to see
directing the drug czar's office.
To this end, I started a petition called, "Drug Czar of My Dreams."
Perhaps Nadelmann for drug czar is too much to hope for but, with any
luck, this petition will at least encourage President-elect Obama to
think twice about his choice of drug czar. In addition to your
signature and feedback, I would appreciate your help with promoting
this petition.
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End of MAPTalk-Digest V08 #90
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