PCC Complaint, The Mail On Sunday, 16th January 2011
"The crazed smile that says: It’s the little packets of madness that we really need to fear", The Mail On Sunday, 16-01-11
I wish to make a complaint concerning the above article which first appeared online on 15th January 2011 and was published in the print edition the following day. The article is still available online at: http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2011/01/the-crazed-smile-that-says-its-the-little-packets-of-madness-that-we-really-need-to-fear.html
I make the complaint on my account but also in my capacity as the Speaker of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance, a political party, of P.O.Box 674, Salfords, RH1 9BN. For the purposes of correspondence, please use my personal address as below.
1. This article breaches the Editors' Code Of Practice clause 1.i) in that it publishes inaccurate, misleading and distorted information.
2. It also breaches clause 1.iii) in that it confuses comment, conjecture and fact.
3. The Mail On Sunday (MOS) is also in breach of clause 2 in that it has failed to provide an opportunity for reply to inaccuracies.
4. The headline is inaccurate and misleading. It also confuses comment, conjecture and fact. It purports to be a diagnosis of "craziness" caused by "little packets of madness" (cannabis). Unless the journalist concerned has a medical qualification he is unable to say what caused the smile on Jared Loughner's face. It is also inaccurate and misleading to say that cannabis causes madness or needs to be feared. These claims are conjecture presented as fact.
There is evidence of some correlation between cannabis use and mental health problems but very little of causation. There is, in fact, much stronger evidence of correlation between tobacco smoking and mental health but no one is claiming that tobacco causes madness.
Professor Glyn Lewis of the University Of Bristol reviewed all the published evidence on the subject in 2009 and says that 96% of people can use cannabis without any risk of psychosis at all and in the remaining 4% the risk is statistically tiny. In contrast the risk of developing psychosis through alcohol use is at least 100 times greater.
5. At the 11th paragraph the article states "...it seems likely that he has lost his reason. Why and how? The most likely cause is Loughner’s daily cannabis-smoking habit. The link between this drug and serious mental illness grows clearer every day." This is inaccurate and misleading and confuses comment, conjecture and fact. See the evidence above, it is, in fact, extremely unlikely that cannabis smoking could have caused Loughner to lose his reason and the link between cannabis and mental illness does not grow clearer every day.
Furthermore, the evidence as reported in the US media, according to Loughner's friends, is that he had "given up using marijuana during the fall of 2008".
In Britain in 2009, the ACMD commissioned a study by Keele University into the trends in schizophrenia specifically to test the claims in the media of a link between it and cannabis. It looked at almost 600,000 patients and concluded that "..the incidence and prevalence of schizophrenia and psychoses were either stable or declining" despite alleged increased use of allegedly more potent cannabis.
6. In the 16th paragraph the article states: "Cannabis is now effectively legal in Britain and in several parts of the USA, where this dangerous and unpredictable poison is ironically permitted for ‘medical use’". This is inaccurate and misleading and confuses comment, conjecture and fact.
Cannabis is not "effectively" legal in Britain at all. Every day people are receiving prison sentences in connection with cannabis, Neither can cannabis be called "dangerous" or a "poison". The Therapeutic Ratio is a scientific term that compares a basic dose of a drug to the fatal dose. In alcohol the ratio is 1:50, in paracetamol 1:30, in cannabis 1:10000. It is physically impossible to ingest a lethal dose of cannabis.
7. From the 18th paragraph the article states "The town council of liberal Pima (scene of the murders) last week took the first step towards licensing ‘dispensaries’ for dope. Arizona has always had plenty of guns. America has always had heated political rhetoric. What is new is that it now has legal dope as well. Those who are seriously interested in public safety should worry less about guns and radio shock jocks, and more about the little packets of madness on sale in every school." This is inaccurate and misleading and confuses comment, conjecture and fact.
The town of Pima was not the scene of the murders. The shooting took place in Tucson which is about 150 miles away. The suggestion is that Arizona "now has legal dope". In fact, the medical marijuana dispensaries have yet to open. The implication that "legal dope" is on sale in every school is also false and misleading.
8. I wrote to Peter Wright, editor of the MOS, on 20th January 2011 (copy attached below) asking for an opportunity to respond and correct the inaccuracies in the article. I spoke to his PA, Sarah Amos, on the telephone on three subsequent occasions asking for a response. I also sent a "letter for publication" on 25th January 2011 (copy attached below). I have had no response from the MOS nor have any corrections been published.
9. The overall effect of the article is inaccurate and misleading and it confuses comment, conjecture and fact in the most crass and inflammatory way. It is in fact dangerously hysterical and sensationalist. The journalist and editor concerned have failed miserably in their "duty to maintain the highest professional standards".
I would be grateful if you would deal with this complaint at your earliest convenience. I shall be happy to provide any furrther information required or to give oral evidence in support.
Yours faithfully,
Peter Reynolds
Saturday 9 April 2011
Cannabis Law Reform - PCC Complaint, The Mail On Sunday, 16th January 2011
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