Historique
Périodique
"Cocaine-related" deaths : media coverage in the war of drugs
(Décès dus à la cocaïne : couverture médiatique dans la guerre des drogues)
Auteur(s) :
WONG, L. S. ;
ALEXANDER, B. K.
Année
1991
Langue(s) :
Anglais
ISBN :
0022-0426
Refs biblio. :
50
Domaine :
Drogues illicites / Illicit drugs
Note générale :
Journal of Drug Issues, 1991, 21, (1), 105-119
Résumé :
FRANÇAIS :
Constat d'une tendance à l'exagération médiatique concernant les cas de décès liés à la consommation de cocaïne. Cette propagande est accusée de servir une politique "douteuse" de "guerre des drogues" plutôt que d'aider à bâtir une approche rationnelle et efficace de la toxicomanie.
ENGLISH :
A 1989 newspaper story describing twenty-nine cocaine-related deaths in British Columbia is used to illustrate the kinds of unwarranted inferences that are propagated by the news media during the current War on Drugs. The newspaper story conveys the impression that most of the deaths involved well-integrated moderate drug users, that all twenty-nine deaths were caused by cocaine, and that these deaths provided evidence of an epidemic of dangerous cocaine use sweeping the province. However, the coroner's files on which the story was based, and related research, provide strong evidence that all three frightening inferences are wrong. A more careful analysis of these deaths as a consequence of chronic deterioration in a fringe population can contribute to the development of realistic drug policy. (Author's abstract)
Constat d'une tendance à l'exagération médiatique concernant les cas de décès liés à la consommation de cocaïne. Cette propagande est accusée de servir une politique "douteuse" de "guerre des drogues" plutôt que d'aider à bâtir une approche rationnelle et efficace de la toxicomanie.
ENGLISH :
A 1989 newspaper story describing twenty-nine cocaine-related deaths in British Columbia is used to illustrate the kinds of unwarranted inferences that are propagated by the news media during the current War on Drugs. The newspaper story conveys the impression that most of the deaths involved well-integrated moderate drug users, that all twenty-nine deaths were caused by cocaine, and that these deaths provided evidence of an epidemic of dangerous cocaine use sweeping the province. However, the coroner's files on which the story was based, and related research, provide strong evidence that all three frightening inferences are wrong. A more careful analysis of these deaths as a consequence of chronic deterioration in a fringe population can contribute to the development of realistic drug policy. (Author's abstract)
Affiliation :
Dept Psychol., Simon Fraser Univ., Burnaby, B. C., V5A 1S6
Canada. Canada.
Canada. Canada.