(Ed. note: This story illustrates the
PDFA’s skill at manipulating the media into reporting what they want. The survey is
largely non-sense, even on its own terms, but it gets reported very uncritically. It also
reflects the PDFA and the media’s equating of marijuana and "drugs." Of
course, it does not tell us anything that we don’t know about the PDFA, but what does
it tell us about the AP?)
See
PDFA’s Propaganda Released
On the Internet Hides Margin Of Error That Makes Headline MeaninglessPoll
Kids Drug Use Underestimated
By Larry McShane
Associated Press Writer
April 13, 1998
NEW YORK (AP) -- Baby Boomer parents just don’t get it when
it comes to drugs and their kids, a study by the Partnership for a Drug Free America
shows.
The group’s 10th poll showed that parents are consistently out of touch
when it come to the allure of marijuana on the nation’s youth,
and the easy access they have to the drug.
"Boomers—many of whom have ‘been there, done that’—are
surprisingly and ironically out of step with the reality of drugs in
their children’s lives," said Partnership President Richard D. Bonnette.
The poll found that parents underestimated the availability of marijuana, their
children’s view of its risks, and whether their children’s friends were smoking.
"Few parents believe their children are at risk," said Bonnette. "Few
sincerely believe their children are exposed to drugs, that drugs are widely available in
the schools their children attend. Nor do they know when drugs are likely to become a part
of their children’s lives."
Past Partnership studies showed that 60 percent of the Boomers had tried marijuana at
least once.
The current study indicated that among children ages 9 to 12,
the number who had tried marijuana was up from 334,000 in 1993 to 571,000 last year—an increase from 3 percent to 5 percent of children in that age group.
(Ed. note: The margin of error for the children’s data was plus
or minus 2.2 percentage points, it says below. This means that marijuana use among this
group may actually have dropped! But how do you go about asking kids about their
illegal experiences? This could actually have the effect of encouraging "drug"
use.)
See
British Educators
Find That "Drug" Education Is Counterproductive & Encourages Drug Use,
So They Want To Do More
Marijuana use among ages 13 to 16 remained stable, but there was
a significant increase among 17- and 18-year-olds—from 41 percent in 1996 to 48
percent last year. (Ed. note: The margin of error for the
teens was plus or minus 1.2, which means that maybe there was a small increase or a big
increase, if any of this makes any sense.)
Yet, the study indicated, parents believe their children are immune to those numbers.
Some examples:
The Partnership is a private, nonprofit coalition of
communications industry professionals, known for its anti-drug advertising campaign.
The survey was conducted last year among 1,922 children, 6,975 teens and 815 parents.
The margin of error for the children’s data was plus or
minus 2.2 percentage points; the teens, plus or minus 1.2; for the adults, plus or minus
3.4.
© Copyright 1998 The Associated Press
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