Lobbies and the debate about drugs: an image in question

Abstract

Public Opinion debates for years about the possible decriminalization, and even legalization, of certain types of drugs or all of them. It is a contentious issue that divides the voters and that some political parties use as trademark. At this point, emerging image campaigns are ran by lobbies that perform group works in order to convince not only in favour but also against drugs decriminalization, and also, they pretend to recruit followers (proselytizing). Media are ‘the tool and the speaker’, and sometimes other positions silencers. This paper describes the media’s position in a 'location map'. We have been following media during a decade, from 1999 to 2009, although focusing on publications of the last years, to conclude as it follows.