Josh Burnett at NPR has a strong article debunking the absurd cocaine shortage rumor started by the Drug Czar's office. Burnett explains that increased cocaine prices are temporary and that the Drug Czar's claims of "unprecedented" progress are just false.
Burnett reached these conclusions through an increasingly rare journalism technique known as "research." Rather than mindlessly regurgitating the government's claims of drug war success, he called police chiefs in cities with supposed cocaine shortages and asked them if anything had changed. He also spoke with ONDCP veteran John Carnevale, who, despite his extensive drug warrior credentials, conceded that the real trend in cocaine prices is a downward spiral.
Of course, the inevitable consequence of researching the Drug Czar's ridiculous claims is that the Drug Czar will accuse you of bad research:
The results of Burnett's investigation are inevitable anytime a reporter deliberately researches claims from the Drug Czar's office. The information disseminated by that organization is always false, usually to a dramatic extent, so subjecting them to even minimal scrutiny will reveal that they are wrong 100% of the time.
Reporters need to learn this. It must be understood that press releases from the Office of National Drug Control Policy are a true or false quiz and the correct answer is always "F." If you simply cut and paste their claims into a story you fail the test.
Burnett reached these conclusions through an increasingly rare journalism technique known as "research." Rather than mindlessly regurgitating the government's claims of drug war success, he called police chiefs in cities with supposed cocaine shortages and asked them if anything had changed. He also spoke with ONDCP veteran John Carnevale, who, despite his extensive drug warrior credentials, conceded that the real trend in cocaine prices is a downward spiral.
Of course, the inevitable consequence of researching the Drug Czar's ridiculous claims is that the Drug Czar will accuse you of bad research:
When asked about the conflicting information found by NPR, Drug Czar John Walters dismissed it. He said his information is drawn from nationwide data collected by the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is based on undercover buys, wiretaps, informants, and local police reports.It's cute how pissed he gets when someone starts fact-checking his outrageous statements. And it's just priceless to hear the master of argument-by-anecdote accuse someone else of missing the big picture.
"Now we can do it that way or we can do it where you call somebody somewhere and they say something else," Walters said. "That's not data. That's a guy."
The results of Burnett's investigation are inevitable anytime a reporter deliberately researches claims from the Drug Czar's office. The information disseminated by that organization is always false, usually to a dramatic extent, so subjecting them to even minimal scrutiny will reveal that they are wrong 100% of the time.
Reporters need to learn this. It must be understood that press releases from the Office of National Drug Control Policy are a true or false quiz and the correct answer is always "F." If you simply cut and paste their claims into a story you fail the test.
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The Lie Czar
It’s incredible that John Walters, a former political science professor, should believe that lies concerning illegal drugs are going to produce any long term, positive benefits favoring drug prohibition. Perhaps in the short term Walters doesn’t care about truth, legalities, or even the drug war itself, as long as his federal pension comes through.
For everyone else in drug enforcement, particularly the unfortunates who will remain after Walters departs, the future looks grim. Imagine trying to recoup ONDCP credibility, if there ever was any, after the tremendous PR damage wrought by Walters. More likely, the ONDCP will be completely defunded by the next administration. The drug warriors will have John Walters to thank if it happens.
What Walters amply demonstrates, perhaps more so than any of his predecessors, is that he himself doesn’t believe the legal justifications prohibiting illicit drugs contain enough truth to stand alone on their own individual merits. Thus the perceived need for Walters and other drug warriors to lie, to betray the American people by promoting petty superstitions about prohibited drugs; to save people’s souls, or whatever they think they’re doing. A more pathetic example of ongoing tyranny and violation of due process would be hard to find.
Giordano
Ministry of Misinformation
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle_blog/2007/dec/12/why_doesnt_the_dea_...
Um....
Usually I enjoy reading this website's posts and articles but this one sort of lacks credibility. If they have a study, even if its wrong, we need to counter it with a study, not calling up random people around the country to see if they agree with it. On this one Walters is actually right...you can't effectively criticize a national study by cherry-picking certain cities and asking if the national trend happens to be true in their particular region.
If we're going to criticize the Drug Czar's studies let's do it effectively, not thru halfbaked articles like this. I think that we can do better.
Jeff
Anecdote vs Anecdote
Jeff,
The American Czar has been doing this schtick for what? 20 years and it is always a lie. Where is the Drug Czar's study? Got a link? Are his statistical methods valid?
I'd say countering anecdote with anecdote is fair game.
Let the American Czar do better.
Drug Czar
If your going to run for any office shouldn't they be qualified?
What are the drug Czar's qualifications? Shoulden't we see to
it that all drug Czar's have a chemical background and some
medical savvy? Make sure they have an educational
background in research and design, or at least know how
read a study. Just what do their "sheep skins" say? Pat Verena
From NPR
NPR contacted the police departments in each of those 37 cities to find out what narcotics commanders had to say about the reported cocaine shortage.
The results suggest how difficult it is for law enforcement to create any long-term disruption in retail sales in America, which is the largest cocaine market in the world.
And they tend to confirm long-established trends: that price spikes are transitory, and that over time, dealers find other distribution routes, while users may find other drugs.
Ten of the 37 cities confirmed that the cocaine scarcity is real. Among them were the largest cocaine markets in the nation, such as New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and San Francisco.
Lt. Daniel Simfer, commander of the vice/narcotics unit in the St. Louis Police Department, said, "In the last six months it has become less available than it was at the beginning of the year. The price has increased accordingly probably by about a third."
Four cities declined to respond to questions about the local cocaine supply; five said there was simply no shortage.
The question brought laughter from Sgt. Roger Johnson of the Detroit Police Department.
"No, we don't have a problem finding it at all," Johnson said.
In Pittsburgh, Commander Sheryl Doubt of the Pittsburgh Police Department said, "I spoke to my detectives out there in the streets making buys, and we all kind of agreed that if there's a shortage here in Pittsburgh, we are not aware of it and don't find that necessarily to be true."
Police officials in the other 18 cities singled out by the drug czar gave qualified responses. In Boston, Chicago and Washington D.C., authorities acknowledged that supplies had tightened, and they applauded the busts.
But they noted with frustration that price and availability of a $10-$20 rock of crack cocaine is unchanged, though the potency has dropped somewhat.
More From NPR
John Carnevale is a former budget director in the drug-control office who served under four former drug czars. He says the office had the Rand Corporation analyze long-term cocaine price trends.
Of the findings, Carnevale said, "One, the long-term trend adjusted for purity has been one of decline. It just keeps coming down and coming down. Two, there's been occasional moments where we've seen spikes in cocaine prices, and they may last three months, four months, five months — but eventually the trend continues to decline."
And fleeting price spikes, Carnevale said, did not meaningfully affect demand — another point where he differs with the drug czar.
The price spike = low dollar devaluation
A euro = $1.45 at this time. Spain likes to stay up late at night. For a better return, always go where the money is. The demand ?,it will always be there, no matter where you point to. Kaiser Walters has cut down the cherry tree he picks from. But as far as the next Prez undoing the ONDCP, we can hope but ...the USA can never admit failure in regards to anything. The big boys will be asking euros for oil also. REDGREEN
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