HEROIN COVERAGE

THE Newcastle Herald has presented its readers with an editorial and a
headline on the 'heroin menace' (30/11/98).

To read the newspaper recently, one would think heroin was the greatest drug
problem Newcastle has ever faced.

Strangely, there wasn't a single article on tobacco deaths or alcohol
deaths.

Interestingly enough, in the same issue one article that partly raised the
subject of alcohol abuse, "Youths In drunken Lake riot", seemed more intent
on demonising young people than the actual drug itself.

Considering that alcohol and tobacco are responsible for at least one
hundred - if not one thousand - times as many deaths as heroin, is there a
reason why The Herald isn't drawing attention to these drugs as well?

Or is it merely pursuing the path of a tabloid daily published in Sydney by
drawing readers with prurient articles on a drug associated with a
marginalised culture?

Checked-by: Don Beck