Word: cracking
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...criticism that news organizations tend to converge on a social trend, stir up alarm, then lose interest in unison and move on to some other concern. Last week a debate heated up about whether the media have collectively hyped the nation's drug problem, especially the threat posed by crack, a potent form of cocaine. At the forefront was an unlikely critic of media warnings about illegal narcotics: the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration...
...Crack has dominated media attention during the recent surge in drug coverage. A CBS report televised in early September, 48 Hours on Crack Street, drew the highest viewership of any network documentary in six years. NBC has aired more than 400 reports on drug abuse since the beginning of March; ABC two weeks ago highlighted drugs on all its news programs. Cocaine and crack have been front-page news in dailies ranging from city tabloids to the Wall Street Journal, which last week reported abuse was "rife" in rural Oklahoma. Crack has repeatedly reached Page One of the New York...
...said the drug "generally is not available" in some major cities, * including Chicago, Philadelphia and New Orleans, and is not widely available in many other metropolitan areas. In addition, contrary to some news reports, the DEA found little evidence that crack use had spread from inner cities to many suburbs. The study concluded, "Crack presently appears to be a secondary rather than primary problem in most areas." Ironically, the DEA report received little coverage: it did not make the CBS or the ABC network newscasts that night, was passed up by the New York Times and ran on page...
...HAND, Reagan and company are only fighting part of the problem. Attacking "hardcore" drugs--including cocaine, crack, and heroin--is a slick political move. Users are universally held in low esteem and are commonly regarded less as victims than as criminals. On this issue, a politician just can't lose...
...Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Act, there was little talk of restraint on the subject of curbing drug abuse. House Speaker Tip O'Neill last week said he would favor new taxes to pay for the plan. "I'm afraid this bill % is the legislative equivalent of crack," said Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, one of the handful of Congressmen who voted against the package. "It yields a short-term high but does long-term damage to the system. And it's expensive to boot...