From the Guardian’s Data Blog comes this neat visualization of poisoning deaths from various drugs and compared to press coverage thereof. The at the comparison for pot in particular.
I think this image, which shows the deaths as a proportion of users is probably more relevant when considering the likely social consequences of media bias.
Filed under: sociology | Tagged: alcohol, drugs, moral panic, politics, sociology |
Brad Taylor's Blog 
Um… selling methadone, buying cocaine here. Private message me…
[…] Brad Taylor provides data on death rates associated with use of different drugs and the frequency that such deaths are reported. Big surprise: methadone has more deaths per user than does heroin. Most overreported relative to deaths? Cannabis: 0.07 deaths per 10,000 users; 92 press reports. Most underreported? Methadone: 94.5 deaths per 10,000 users; 10 press reports. […]