Accuracy in Media

Executive Summary

How the Media Glamorize Illegal Drugs

Drug promoter George Soros must be reveling in his glory, successful beyond his wildest dreams as he observes the entertainment industry selling the idea of drug dealers and addicts as sympathetic heroes and role models. No wonder America is experiencing an increasing substance abuse problem.

Consider:

• In “Breaking Bad,” the hero is a chemist who uses his skills to manufacture methamphetamine and sell it. Toy stores now sell action figures of the meth maker, including a gym bag with money, and his junkie friend.
• On “Nurse Jackie,” actress Edie Falco, who previously played the wife of the main character in the Sopranos, sucks drugs up her nose through a straw—an action she repeats periodically throughout each program. Professional nursing groups take strong exception to the depiction.
• The successful series “Weeds” is the sympathetic story of a suburban mother and her children who grow and sell marijuana.
• The hero in the series “House” is a doctor addicted to his own prescription drugs, featuring British actor Hugh Laurie as “the most electrifying new main character to hit television in years,” according to The Washington Post’s Tom Shales.

All these shows have received enthusiastic reception in the media as well as numerous awards.

This odd promotion of the drug culture coincides with George Soros’ longtime plan to legalize dangerous mind-altering drugs. The billionaire hedge fund operator is backing Hillary Clinton for president. “If You Like Legal Marijuana, You Must Vote for Hillary,” says the pro-drug HIGH TIMES magazine.

 

A Special Report from the Accuracy in Media Center for Investigative Journalism

Drug promoter George Soros, the billionaire hedge fund operator, must be reveling in his glory, successful beyond his wildest dreams. Twelve years after we published, “The Hidden Soros Agenda: Drugs, Money, the Media, and Political Power,” America is in the midst of a full-blown illegal drug crisis, much of it driven by his evil vision. Equally startling, the entertainment industry is now selling the idea of drug dealers and addicts as sympathetic heroes and role models.

In Barack Obama, America has a President who was a heavy marijuana smoker in his youth and has used his executive power to dramatically weaken enforcement of federal marijuana laws. As the perception of the risk decreases, marijuana use among young people is increasing. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says the problem is so bad in Colorado, where marijuana has been legalized, that marijuana growing operations have become a danger to surrounding neighborhoods.  In fact, a growing number of residents of Colorado, including law enforcement personnel, now want to terminate recreational marijuana sales and operations.

Meanwhile, the heroin epidemic has gotten so bad that citizen volunteers are now being trained to use Naloxone, a substance which reverses the effects of opioids in cases of heroin overdoses. Formerly this substance was carried only by hospital or emergency personnel.

In fairness, some media are covering the problem. David Muir’s ABC report, “Breaking Point: Heroin in America,” interviewed victims of the drug and their families. Steven Steiner, a father who came upon a victim of a heroin overdose and helped save his life, appealed for help to address the problem. Ironically, Steiner’s own son had been killed many years ago by a drug overdose. Many ABC stations across the country joined in the coverage of this growing national problem.

The statistics are frightening: 129 people die every day from drugs, with most of the deaths resulting from heroin and prescription pain pills. Drug overdoses are now more deadly than car accidents and guns in this country, Muir noted.

Steiner vs. Soros

When George Soros spoke at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. in 2004, Steiner tried to challenge Soros about his support for drug legalization by getting up on the podium and showing a photo of his dead son. Steiner was led away from the National Press Club podium by unidentified security personnel who slammed him into a door, dislocating his shoulder. He ended up in a hospital.

Today, Soros is back in a big way, openly backing Hillary Clinton for president. “Soros has donated or committed more than $25 million to boost Hillary Clinton and other Democratic candidates and causes, according to Federal Election Commission records and interviews with his associates and Democratic fundraising operatives,” reports Politico.

Republican nominee Donald J. Trump, by contrast, has vowed to stop the drugs coming in from Mexico and talks about the concern he encountered in New Hampshire. “New Hampshire has a tremendous drug epidemic,” he says in a video. “Every time I go there, people come up to me and they say ‘Mr. Trump, what are we gonna do? Drugs are pouring in.’” Trump’s border wall is part of the solution to preventing Mexican heroin from coming into the U.S.

The Role of the Media

Despite the human suffering and carnage caused by the epidemic, our media are glorifying those who use and sell illegal drugs.

In the wildly successful cable TV series “Breaking Bad,” the hero is a former high school chemistry teacher who uses his skills to manufacture methamphetamine and sell it. The series became an immediate sensation, and the 2013 Guinness Book of World Records declared it the most critically acclaimed show of all time.

A Florida mother started an online petition objecting to Toys “R” Us selling action figures of “Breaking Bad’s” crystal meth manufacturer Walter White and his junkie partner Jesse Pinkman, complete with detachable weapons, bags of cash and drugs. A Toys “R” Us spokesman responded belligerently: “The product packaging clearly notes that the items are intended for ages 15 and up.” The 6-inch dolls, or action figures, were sold alongside the store’s Barbie dolls and Disney characters as part of a deal with Sony Pictures Television, the show’s distributor.

Bloggers and druggies called her “a mom with too much time on her hands,” while the show’s Emmy-winning star Bryan Cranston, who took home $225,000 per episode, responded on Twitter, “I’m so mad, I’m burning my Florida Mom action figure in protest.”

But the show’s actors and fans are completely oblivious to the horrific effects of crystal meth in the real world.

Crystal meth use destroys the human body, causing chronic skin abscesses, lesions and rapid tooth decay, leaving many users toothless. Those addicted rapidly lose weight, soon becoming emaciated. Meth causes massive spasms in the arterial walls, setting up possible heart attacks or strokes as well as brain hemorrhage or spasm, and causes air pressure changes in the lungs, leading to lung collapse.

The mortality rate is 26 times higher than normal among women who use meth. Since withdrawal from crystal meth brings on excruciating effects, users will do almost anything to avoid it—making recovery extremely difficult. If a pregnant mother uses crystal meth, her baby is born addicted. “Meth babies” often have to undergo withdrawal treatment and suffer from premature birth and low birth weight. The meth high can last 4-5 hours as compared to the 5-10 minute cocaine high, making it devastatingly addictive.

Meth lab operators dump toxic waste into nearby streams and often pour volatile chemicals down sinks in buildings they rent, polluting and destroying local sewer systems. Poisonous fumes generated from cooking the drug indoors can permeate walls and remain active for so long that buildings have to be destroyed. If the waste is buried the cans eventually disintegrate, with the highly toxic chemicals working their way through the ground to the water table. Clean-up crews brave potential explosions, fire and asphyxiation from poisonous fumes.

Gleefully demonstrating total ignorance of these real world effects, Aaron Paul, the actor who plays drug seller and addict Jesse Pinkman on “Breaking Bad,” posted on Twitter, “Which is worse—Barbie or meth?” and directed his signature line from the show “Yeah, b—–!” at Susan Schrivjer, the Florida mother concerned about the Toys “R” Us action figures.

“Weeds”

The successful series “Weeds” is the sympathetic story of a suburban mother and her children who grow and sell marijuana. The program’s Showtime TV network explains, “Golden Globe Award winner Mary-Louise Parker stars in this original comedy series as a suburban California mother who is forced to start selling marijuana when the unexpected death of her husband leaves her and her family in dire financial straits.”

The show was so successful that TV Guide promoted a “National Weeds Awareness Week,” including a “How to Throw Your Own ‘Weeds’ Party” guide, complete with party recipes. “Weeds” has received multiple awards, with its star winning a Golden Globe award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

Soros’ “Legalized” Marijuana Plan

“All of us owe George Soros a great deal of gratitude,” said Keith Stroup, founder of the longtime pothead group NORML, whose reputation was so bad that Soros had to form the “Drug Policy Foundation” to further his drug-pushing efforts.

Soros then tried a new tack—the pothead’s marijuana had suddenly become “medicine,” with Soros operatives fanning out over various talk shows and other media to push this new ploy. Yet no medicine is taken by smoking it. After a few years Soros dissolved his “Drug Policy Foundation” and started a “new” group called the “Lindesmith Center.” Then he dissolved that and started his new “Drug Policy Alliance.”

In tandem with Peter Lewis, the billionaire head of Progressive Insurance who was once embarrassingly arrested in Australia for drug possession, Soros bankrolled marijuana “decriminalization” votes in various states, even though by law the FDA and the DEA have power over this area.

Soros’ efforts bore fruit. Since 1996, 24 states and D.C. now allow “medical marijuana,” with four states and D.C. allowing recreational use, and more Soros-bankrolled state votes set up in this year’s election.

Big Business

Articles from HERB magazine provide an idea of the extent of businesses built around “legalized” marijuana: “From Whoopi’s line of menstrual relief products to the glamorous AnnaBis bags to hide your stash, women can enjoy pot now more than ever,” “You Won’t Believe These 10 Awesome Bongs Are Under $100,” and a Washington D.C. taxi service  where  “not only is he giving you a private place to smoke but he also promises top-shelf medical-grade Kush.” For $50 you get a half hour ride; trips are available from noon to 9 p.m. But, HERB warns, “If you as a cannabis entrepreneur have not contributed to the activism required to free the plant, then you don’t deserve to profit from the boom.”

Incremental inroads in permissiveness for marijuana use were demonstrated when the Olympic Committee voted to accept 150 nanograms in the system without disqualifying a competitor, while a unanimous Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that a state worker fired after being caught smoking marijuana on the job was punished too harshly and should get his job back. Recently President Obama’s daughter Malia was observed smoking marijuana at a public concert, apparently a chip off the old block from her father and his Choom Gang.

2016 Election Push

The notorious drug magazine HIGH TIMES ran a story in July titled, “If You Like Legal Marijuana, You Must Vote for Hillary.” Fundraising in Colorado with Senator Mark Udall (D-CO), Hillary Clinton pointed to the foam atop Udall’s latte and said, “Look at you, you got like a plant. Is that a marijuana  plant?” Apparently going for the pothead vote, Hillary announced, “I want to move marijuana off of Schedule 1.”

But drugs are not regulated by such executive action. The Food and Drug Administration approves drugs through a procedure in which drug companies must present proof from clinical trials that a drug works and is safe enough to use. Marijuana is classified as a Schedule One drug by the DEA, with no medical use and high potential for abuse, based on extensive statistics from emergency rooms, car accidents, etc.

When Hillary Clinton tried to distance herself from marijuana, claiming, “I didn’t do it when I was young, I’m not going to start now.” Allen St. Pierre, who recently stepped down as executive director of the notorious National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws said, “I will eat both of my shoes if she and Bill didn’t trip their nuts off at Wellesley and Oxford.”

A high-powered operation pushing Soros’ longtime plan for using media and private organizations is aimed at the 2016 elections. “In 2016 there is going to be a number of states with legalization initiatives on the ballot and there will be broad support,” said Tamar Todd of the Soros-funded Drug Policy Alliance.

Chuck Todd  of NBC’s “Meet the Press” has eagerly promoted legalization, telling Attorney General Loretta Lynch, “One of the easiest ways you could clean this up is if the federal government rescheduled marijuana,” and complained that “Marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug, the equivalent of heroin and all this stuff.” Lynch replied, “Well, I think states have to make those decisions on their own. They listen to their citizens, and they take actions.”

A lengthy plug for marijuana titled, “A memo to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on marijuana policy,” comes from the Brookings Institution, currently headed by longtime Soros collaborator and close Bill and Hillary Clinton friend Strobe Talbott.

Repeatedly using code words like marijuana “reform” and marijuana “rescheduling,” Brookings lays out steps for the next president to follow: “Dear future nominees: Eight months from today one of you will be inaugurated the 45^th President of the United States…Marijuana policy will be a serious part of the next administration’s domestic policy…get it right…when vetting possible appointees, ask them about cannabis…select the right individuals for such posts… it is important to remember that science is the key to understanding marijuana…Science is an integral part of the cannabis conversation.”

The Real World

Fans of “Weeds,” much of the media, and many politicians remain oblivious to the real world effects of marijuana. “Fatal crashes involving drivers who recently used marijuana doubled in Washington after the state legalized the drug,” the AAA reports. “The significant increase in fatal crashes involving marijuana is alarming,” said Peter Kissinger, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety CEO, adding that “Washington serves as an eye-opening case study for what other states may experience with road safety after legalizing the drug.”

No discussion of marijuana would be complete without mention of Ricky Gates, the poster boy for marijuana, who drove his Conrail train through three red stop signals head on into an Amtrak train in 1987, killing 16 and injuring 174. In a 1993 interview with The Baltimore Sun, Gates said the accident would have never happened if not for marijuana.

HERB magazine instructs, “If you’re having friends over and want to make special brownies, this quick and easy cannabutter recipe is what you need,” ignoring the fact that small children will grab and eat anything that looks like food and are now being poisoned across the U.S. by such “recipes.”

Pot smoke constricts blood vessels three times longer than tobacco smoke, making it difficult for proper blood flow, and setting up heart problems. It harms the lungs, kills brain cells and can cause psychosis.

In this context, Dr. Christine Miller, a semi-retired molecular neuroscientist, has been documenting literally dozens of cases of marijuana use linked to mental illness and violence.

A group in Canada, the Marijuana Victims Association, is now warning of possible marijuana-related birth defects.

Prescription Drugs

In the series “Nurse Jackie,” actress Edie Falco, previously the main character’s wife in the  mega-hit “Sopranos” series, now graduates to star in her own show where the opening credits show her sucking drugs up her nose through a straw—an action she repeats periodically throughout each program. The New York State Nurses Association condemned the show’s detrimental depiction of nurses. “In the first episode, Nurse Jackie is introduced as a substance abuser who trades sex with a pharmacist for prescription drugs.” New York magazine praised Nurse Jackie for its “truly breakthrough female character.” At the 62nd Emmy Awards, actress Falco won an Outstanding Lead Actress Primetime Emmy Award.

The hero in the TV series “House” is a doctor addicted to his own prescription drugs, featuring British actor Hugh Laurie as “the most electrifying new main character to hit television in years,” according to The Washington Post’s Tom Shales. “House” was the most-watched television program in the world in 2008.

This depiction of legal prescription drug abusers in a sympathetic light is also treacherous, since prescription drugs can be just as dangerous, harmful and addictive as illegal drugs. In fact, they can lead to heroin use.

Conclusion

The entertainment industry’s contempt for moral standards, and obliviousness to real world consequences, in glorifying drug abusers as heroes is a highly dangerous development.

President Obama has told the entertainment industry not to glorify gun violence, saying, “We’ve got to make sure that we’re not glorifying it because the stories you tell shape our children’s outlook and their lives.” However, he has been conspicuously silent about Hollywood glorifying those who contribute to the drug problem.

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