Whats going on in the media? (Warning: long read)

PerseusStoned

PerseusStoned

Well-Known Member
Hey guys, just a story with a question I was wondering if anyone else had some information to contribute.

You probably noticed lwien's ice cream thread link, well I had followed it to its original news source and noticed a guy named TijJit who commented:

FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is completely powerless. Voodoo medicine, quack doctors, quack patients with medical marijuana programs. Marijuana smoke has not been approved by FDA for treatment of any medical condition. Marijuana is still illegal at the Federal level for any use. What in the world is happening to the USA? Total medical anarchy!
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Now, the thing is I see comments like this all the time on news stories involving marijuana. CNN runs articles every week or two with some angle on marijuana; sometime negative (criminals caught doing something wrong who were high), sometime positive (medical marijuana saves lives), sometime just mentioning it (gangs in Mexico funded by American marijuana users). On these articles there always these weird near-fanatical and unfounded comments by profiles like TijJit. The thing that really makes them stick out is that they are almost always newly created accounts, just to post a comment on the story, and never interact with the site again. Why is this?

Curious, I googled TijJit's name and came up with a few hits. Here:
The KSBW site where he created his profile just to post a comment on the ice cream story.
Change.org, where he comments on a story about tipping in restaurants saying waiters/waitressing is lucrative.
Finally baycitizen, a news site where he contends that pot kills people and that "Prop 19" is, well...

If you read it carefully, all it is proposing is "I have a pot habit. Legalize it so I have the freedom to support my pot habit. Oh, by the way, this proposition will result in this also, if pot is legalized."
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I'm just trying to figure out why something like this would happen. We know he's following the news and feels he needs to voice opposition on these stories. It might just be a journalist trying to inflate comments on their stories by leaving obviously argumentative comments on articles where mostly "pro-pot" people will go, but this has been a trend I've noticed in online news sources across the country.

Call it a hunch, but I'm reminded of Jurgis's brief stint in politics from Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle". He is hired by the corporations to vouch for one political side over the other. He has no real interest in the actual politics, just knows what buttons to push to do his job and get his official elected so that the corporations can prosper.

Anyone have any idea whats going on with politics and the media anymore? Is everything just presented for show, with no real attempt at authenticity?
 
PerseusStoned,
P

Plotinus

Well-Known Member
"It might just be a journalist trying to inflate comments on their stories by leaving obviously argumentative comments on articles where mostly "pro-pot" people will go"

I think you can safely rule that one out. Unless they write for niche blogs, journalists aren't paid or assessed by the number of comments on a story. I worked as a journalist for awhile and I can tell you that the online comments were easily the least pleasant aspect - I avoided them whenever possible.

It seems more likely that this guy either follows the issue himself (with a Google News Alert keyed to "marijuana" or something similar), or he follows a right-wing blog that follows the issue (like http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/, for example - though I'm sure it's not that one in particular.)

My advice: don't read comments on news articles unless they're from a web community you trust. Ever tune into news shows on NPR or another station that takes listener calls? Do you find yourself wondering why half the people who call seem like they have an axe to grind at best, or at worst seem totally insane?

People who regularly comment on news stories and call radio shows are either passionate advocates on the issue, or lonely and nuts. It doesn't mean that the article or show in question is untrustworthy.
 
Plotinus,
vapirtoo

vapirtoo

Well-Known Member
Hey cheer up , WE are the new media and WE are gathering more eyeballs
all the time. Some people would call us passionate nuts.
 
vapirtoo,
Budz Bunny

Budz Bunny

Well-Known Member
Found some more posts here:

http://www.annarbor.com/news/michig...rification-appeals-court-judge-says/index.php
#1
The medical marijuana laws are also called "SPAGHETTI" laws.
Medical marijuana "is" the NEW RITE OF PASSAGE to those who just turned 18. And the BAD thing is that those who just turned 18 are being pushed by the older friends to get their medical marijuana cards right away!
It has become an UNDERGROUND rite of passage that the parents do not even know about. The parents have no idea that these 18 year olds are having their pot parties and if the police catches them, all they have to show is their medical marijuana cards and they are off the hook. It is pretty SCARY because many of these teens are becoming forgetful and are developing severe anxiety and paranoia.
They have been brainwashed either by the doctor that prescribed to them or some authority that marijuana is safe and good for them because they will argue with you to the teeth that pot is good.
All that SAY NO TO DRUGS programs since Kindergarten is down the drain. They do not even listen to the parents and get very very stressed when you talk to them about drugs. They cannot handle stress anymore. They are also forgetful. You can hide something and they think they lost that object. Pot is BAD for the developing brains of teens and these teens are CONVINCED 100% that pot is good for them. Medical marijuana ruined the brains of many teens.
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#2
Repeal the Medical Marijuana Laws. Marijuana smoke has not been approved by FDA as treatment for any medical condition. Medical marijuana needs to be legalized at the Federal Level.
You are putting teens with medical marijuana cards in danger. They will pick up a prescription bottle of medical marijuana, then if they cannot refill it at the dispensary, they will use drug dealers to refill their prescription bottles. Medical marijuana must be SHRINK-WRAPPED and should have an FDA stamp or tracking number.
If the teen refills that prescription bottle with street pot, they can pick up a MORE potent form of marijuana.
MARIJUANA is NOT SAFE. There are many strains of marijuana. So if you picked up the wrong strain of marijuana, you can become a psycho.
"Seizures of a super-strong strain of marijuana nicknamed "skunk" have risen sharply in the UK and experts say it could be causing an epidemic of cannabis-induced psychosis, the Daily Telegraph reports. Skunk is up to four times more potent than regular herbal cannabis, and now accounts for 80% of street seizures. British politicians are now debating reclassifying marijuana as a more dangerous drug."
QUOTE
The results are considered particularly worrying as skunk now accounts for around 80 per cent of the street market in cannabis in the United Kingdom.
Scientists at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London made the discovery after studying admissions to hospital for psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia, paranoia and serious depression.
"Our study is the first to demonstrate that the risk of psychosis is much greater among people who are frequent cannabis users, especially among those using skunk, rather than occasional users of traditional hash," said Dr Marta Di Forti.
"Unfortunately, skunk is displacing traditional cannabis preparations in many countries, and the availability of skunk on the UK "street market" has steadily increased over the past six years.
UNQUOTE
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...ge-increase-in-risk-of-psychotic-disease.html
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#3
The state needs to REPEAL the medical marijuana laws because the medical marijuana laws are UNENFORCEABLE. The medical marijuana laws conflict with the Federal Laws. It is a "spaghetti" law that shows a complex maze of conflicting laws. These types of LAWS are unenforceable and will cost the state and local government lots of wasted time and money.
Medical Marijuana needs to start with FDA and at the Federal Level. After the Federal government changes the law, then the states can control and regulate the medical marijuana laws properly. Medical marijuana should only be prescribed by doctors and dispensed from real pharmacies. Medical marijuana must be dispensed in SHRINK-WRAP with a universal tracking number so it distinguishes it from street drugs. If medical marijuana is dispensed from a prescription bottle, that bottle can easily be refilled with pot from the street dealers. Medical marijuana programs are being developed from the bottom-up which is why it is a MESS. Medical marijuana programs should be set up using a TOP-DOWN approach. Only disorganized people with NO VISION and have self-centered goals work from the bottom-up. You've got to see the big picture first from above which is at the Federal level, then down to the state and local levels. Bug CONGRESS to change the law.
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Sure does have a hardon for med mj.

At least he sticks to provable facts " There are many strains of marijuana. So if you picked up the wrong strain of marijuana, you can become a psycho."
 
Budz Bunny,
AGBeer

AGBeer

Lost in Thought
LOL Yeah, like a really good edible.

I get really psycho on one of those :rolleyes:
 
AGBeer,
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