Snide Headlines Betray Anti-Cannabis Bias in Major Media

One would think that the flood of good news from the nascent cannabis industry about medicinal breakthroughs against terrible diseases and addictive / deadly opioids, hundreds of thousands of new jobs, rollbacks in drug violence in shrinking black markets, new opportunities for American agriculture, and hundreds of millions of dollars in new tax revenues would have permeated all the way to the major media.

The good news is, some major media are showing leadership in reporting these benefits, including Forbes, Entrepreneur, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time and Newsweek.

And while these publications coverage of cannabis - some have regular columns and dedicated writers - it's critical never to let down one's guard against Anti-Cannabis Propaganda, as recent articles in the Associate Press, (which have been re-packaged (newsjacked) by other sources including The Cannabist...and Civilized...Really guys, have the editors left for vacation early?)

Not to pimp the AP article "Burners beware..." in any way, but here's the skinny: there might be pesticides in some cannabis sold after January 1 because it was not tested. Since not one person has ever died from cannabis in its 5,000 year relationship with humankind, the article's premise begs the question - what other items that are tested also contain pesticides?

Here are just a few, according a story called "The Dirty Dozen" by CBS News:

"It is startling to see how heavily strawberries are contaminated with residues of hazardous pesticides, but even more shocking is that these residues don't violate the weak U.S. laws and regulations on pesticides in food," Sonya Lunder, EWG Senior Analyst, said in a statement. "The EPA's levels of residues allowed on produce are too lax to protect Americans' health. They should be updated to reflect new research that shows even very small doses of toxic chemicals can be harmful, particularly for young children.

The complete list of the 2016 "Dirty Dozen" included many popular fruits and vegetables:

1.Strawberries

2.Apples

3.Nectarines

4.Peaches

5.Celery

6.Grapes

7.Cherries

8.Spinach

9.Tomatoes

10.Sweet bell peppers

11.Cherry tomatoes

12.Cucumbers

The Environmental Working Group also noted that while hot peppers and leafy greens like kale and collard greens did not meet the criteria to be ranked on the list, some samples were found to contain toxic insecticides, and it encouraged consumers to consider organic options."

NOTHING NEW HERE:

Big American Media has been complicit in the anti-cannabis campaign since the days of the timber-owning godfather of such things, William Randolph Hearst. So the recent articles about 'tainted product' are simply new wrappers around the same old scary-fairy-tale Cannabis Canards.

The world has been fed this garbage for 100 years. It's time for the naysayers to crawl back under the porch and let the adults do our jobs.

image source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-fruit-tops-dirty-dozen-list-of-most-contaminated-produce