By: Joe Strupp A Washington, D.C.-based group working to ease marijuana laws is criticizing
The New York Times for creating and distributing a handbook with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy that the group claims is full of distortions and misrepresentations about the drug.
The Marijuana Policy Project, in an Oct. 17 letter to
Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., obtained by
E&P, called the 85-page booklet on marijuana distributed through the
Times' Newspaper in Education program "a succession of distortions, exaggerations and strategic omission of relevant data." The non-profit group also complained that the timing of the handbook, released on Oct. 15, is improper because it occurred just weeks before Election Day, when marijuana ballot measures will go before voters in several states.
Times officials declined to address the allegation that the booklet distorted facts. But, in a statement sent to
E&P Friday, the paper defended its practice of providing such educational materials, which are used in conjunction with the daily paper. "Our main goal ... is to foster development of critical thinking skills through newspaper reading," the statement read. "We are able to do this in part by helping teachers to integrate newspapers into their curriculum."
The paper also said this was the third such handbook it has produced through the White House drug office. The previous two dealt with drug messages in the media and overall drug abuse, ranging from alcohol to inhalants.
The Newspaper in Education program is a separate
Times business unit from the editorial department,
Times officials said. Although the handbook included previously published articles from the
Times, no reporters or editors are involved in its creation.
MPP's letter, however, claimed that the handbook had purposely avoided using
Times articles that challenge the government's position on marijuana. "The articles included have been selectively chosen," the letter stated. "Using only those that tend to support the federal government's view of marijuana."
The handbook can be downloaded at http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/NIE/focusonmarijuana/
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