FREE SPEECH CASUALTY IN WAR ON DRUGS

Meddling with TV

The national press is accusing White House Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey of
attempting to influence the content of television programming by editing and
censoring the storylines of TV shows.

FOX, ABC, CBS, NBC, UPN and WB have all admitted they allowed the White
House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to review over a
hundred scripts for popular prime-time shows such as ER, Beverly Hills
90210, General Hospital and Chicago Hope in connection with a billion dollar
program that began in 1997.

Under the 1997 deal, the government receives $1 billion worth of advertising
spots from the networks for every $1 billion of anti-drug advertising they
pay for - a "two for one" deal for the government.

But as part of the billion-dollar deal, the drug czar's office agreed to
release the networks from the obligation to provide free commercial spots if
the networks included anti-drug messages in the storylines of shows. The
situation was first exposed by the online news website Salon.com.

At a House appropriations subcommittee, McCaffrey explained the credit
system: "An on-strategy storyline that is the main plot of a half-hour show
can be valued at three 30-second ads ... If there is an end tag with an 800
number for more information at the end of a half-hour show, it is valued at
an additional 15-second ad. A main storyline in an hour-long prime-time show
is valued at five 30-second ads, while such a story-line in a one-hour
daytime show is valued at four 30-second ads."

McCaffrey' office admitted that it received some scripts for credit approval
before shows aired and suggested changes, causing critics to claim the drug
czar's office was editing the content of television. Salon.com identified
two-dozen shows where single or multiple episodes containing anti-drug
themes were assigned monetary value by the drug czar's office.

For example, to partially meet its "match" and thus recoup some of the ad
time owed the government, Fox submitted a two-episode "Beverly Hills 90210"
story involving a character's downward spiral into drug addiction. The
episodes were valued at between $500,000 and $750,000, said one executive
close to the deal. In another example, in return for several episodes with
anti-drug subplots, "ER" redeemed $1.4 million worth of time for NBC. "The
Practice" recouped $500,000 worth of time for ABC. In one
government-endorsed plot on "Chicago Hope," the show featured a drug-induced
death, rape, psychosis, a two-car wreck, a broken nose and a doctor's threat
to skip life-saving surgery unless the patient agreed to a urine test -
along with a canceled flight on the space shuttle. Other drug-czar-approved
shows featured a career-devastating, pot-induced freakout ("The Wayans
Bros."); drug tests at work ("The Drew Carey Show"); drug tests for a school
basketball team (NBC's Saturday morning "Hang Time"); death behind the wheel
due to alcohol and pot combined ("Sports Night"); kids caught with marijuana
or alcohol pressed to name their supplier ("Cosby" and "Smart Guy"); and a
young teen becoming an undercover police drug informant after a minister
tells his parents he should ("7th Heaven"). At least one show, "Buffy the
Vampire Slayer," was rejected by the drug czar's office, Salon.com reported.
"Drugs were an issue, but it wasn't on-strategy... Viewers wouldn't make the
link to our message," said a source in the drug-policy office who read the
script.

Since the story broke and was picked up in the national media, the drug
czar's policy has come under fire from free speech activists, media
executives and some politicians. Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA), chairman of the
House Commerce Committee's telecommunications panel, is planning hearings
this spring on the policy and its guidelines. He said about the program,
"We're not going to allow the federal government to become a censor."

In response to the criticism, the ONDCP advertising program has been
slightly changed for now. "They've revised their policy to no longer look at
scripts or do changes in programming for credit before a program is
finished," White House press secretary Joe Lockhart said last month. But
ONDCP spokesman Bob Weiner said the office will continue to do "consulting
work" for producers who request their assistance. And TV producers are well
aware of the ONDCP's "on strategy" guidelines for credits, which are
available in a thick binder from the White House.

Meddling with Books

The US Senate has passed an anti-methamphetamine bill (SB 486), sponsored by
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), that includes language making it a felony to "to
distribute by any means information pertaining to, in whole or in part, the
manufacture or use of a controlled substance. "

If passed, bookstores, magazine sellers and newspapers could be held
criminally liable by for having unacceptable content, and major Internet
booksellers such as Amazon.com would be in violation of federal law. This
provision would make some books, magazines and newspapers illegal.

"Drug law reformers, civil libertarians and the general public need to
recognize that Sen. Hatch's bill is a blatant attack on Americans' right to
free speech," said Keith Stroup, executive director for the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). "Citizens must act
soon to amend or kill this terrible federal legislation."

The bill has been forwarded to the US House of Representatives (called HR
2987 in the House), where on Jan. 27 it was sent to the Judiciary and
Commerce committees for review. If passed by the House and Senate, it would
become federal law.