Tune in tonight on NBC at 10pm ET for “Dateline NBC: The Hansen Files” for a profile of Rachel Morningstar Hoffman.
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Actually, Rachel would still be alive if the ridiculous war on drugs did not include nearly harmless (definitely more harmless than tobaccoo and alcohol) marijuana but our government is too embarrassed that the BILLIONS OF DOLLARS THEY HAVE WASTED CAMPAINING AGAINST IT WAS POINTLESS.they’re embarrassed about all the time and money wasted and of course cant ever admit their own fault. She would also be alive if law enforcement officers weren’t so goddamn corrupt. I will never ever trust a cop to truly be there if I ever need help, seriously. I’m going to have the hardest time lying to my kids about how cops are such great people when I know first, second, and third hand that they do more harm then good. How about go after the real criminals instead of ruining and taking young kids lives who are actually doing things with themselves that can change the awful way this world is goin unlike any of you, although you pretend to make the world better place…Rachel lives on forever and i will be a purple hatters ball attendee for life
I would like to contact Dixie Lee Ross who wrote post #6. Can you please send this note directly to her and not post it on the website?
Dixie Lee Ross -
Please contact me about your son and his girlfriend’s experience. You can call me at my office – 312-832-1853 or via cathy.singer@nbcuni.com OR cathy.singer@gmail.com.
Thank you,
Cathy Singer
Producer/Dateline NBC
I think everyone everwhere should be made aware of the “blackmail tactics ” used against innocent victims. My son (first arrest) was procurred by the MBI…Orlando fl. He and his girlfriend were threatened into CI, and fortunately, they did survive. We the parents were aware of the “sting” operations..and at one point, his gal (95 lbs) was met at the door with an UZI. He had a “Quota” to meet…..No misdeamors, only felony arrests. I will NEVER trust any law enforcement officer again. We were treated like criminals. May God Bless RMHoffman and family.
Cathy-
Thanks for your considered reply, As per your request I again watched the report you produced. I am still drawn to the same conclusion. Chris states in a voice over “But it would be Marijuana along with Rachel’s naive yet confident personality that ultimately would lead her down a dead end road that nobody could have predicted..”. This statement sets the tone for the story that is told for the next 30 minutes. We then are treated to the re-airing of the TPD blaming Rachel for her death.
The questions that were raised by the grand jury report were not answered by the State Attorney but by the Tallahassee reporter. Chris goes on to ask her “..but the focus has been on the police, doesn’t that strike you as odd??”
I’m not asking you to make a story that fits my world view, I (as a viewer) have drawn the legitimate conclusion that Chris Hanson blames Rachel and her weed for getting herself killed. Chris admits as much in his blog posting “But I was committed to doing it and showing it to all of you so something like this never happens again.”
I appreciate your chiming in on your report Cathy, but I submit that my prior posting was right on the money..
Hi “Radical” Russ -
First, I’d like to say that there are many people who worked on this story, much less who work at Dateline in general – and there is no one “perspective of Dateline” on this issue or any issue. We always ask challenging questions of our interviewees, which may or may not represent our private views.
Second, our story was not meant to be an overall discussion about the war on drugs. That said, we ventured into that much larger issue by saying that the local reporter we interviewed for our story “says this case raises questions about using confidential informants in the war on drugs not only in Tallahassee but also across America.” We are not taking any position whatsoever about the war on drugs in general or with regard to marijuana in specific — not our story — and while we don’t get into the whole issue of legalizing marijuana – also not our story – per my previous email, we mentioned the stringent Florida marijuana laws which made Rachel a felon in the first place, the only state where that would have occurred, or as you might say, was “the very first step in this sad march towards Rachel’s death.” We also quote one of Rachel’s friends saying that marijuana use does not make someone a drug addict or require drug counseling.
Third, I’ve been a journalist in print and TV for more than 30 years, and people always think we should have done the story they wanted or made explicit points that are often left up to the viewer to conclude. Our job is to tell the story. Viewers can draw conclusions and stake out positions if they want. I think it is obvious that if marjuana were legal, Rachel Hoffman would be alive today. But if people we interviewed did not make that argument – and they did not – it is not our job to make it ourselves. We tell stories; we are not opinion columnists.
Thanks for watching — and engaging in this conversation.
Cathy, thanks for responding. I agree with you that the focus of the story was on the policing. But the way Chris Hansen phrased a couple of questions/statements are probably what has Lane hopping mad.
Chris’s “Well, this never would have happened if she hadn’t been dealing marijuana” question, which I think you’re referencing, was pushed back on by the attorney, but when asked without a “Some people say…” or “Critics say…” prefix makes it sound as if that is the perspective of Dateline on the issue.
In another part, Chris says something about “calling into question these tactics in the Drug War”, which is a fair observation for the mainstream, but over here, to us, that sounds like “harassing, arresting, and using marijuana smokers for drug stings is perfectly OK, we just need to set up better guidelines and accountability.”
Because, you see, the entire story is set within the frame that the drug war is working and we need to be arresting people who use pot, and never does anyone question that very first step in this sad march toward Rachel’s death… the fact that if Rachel and her friends were binge drinkers and she were caught illegally importing and selling tequila to her friends, no cop would’ve ever sent her to buy 70 grams of coke, 1500 Ecstasy pills, and a handgun for $13,000.
It’s this complete ignorance on the part of the public and police about marijuana culture. Stoners are usually only stoners. Occasionally we like mushrooms and maybe some E, but we’re generally not the cocaine, meth, and heroin types. But the cops figure, well, she’s a drug dealer, so let’s use her to catch drug dealers. This is like saying the guy playing the three-card monty on the street and the mafia don are both hustlers.
You produced a very good story, Cathy, and given the limitations you have to work within (mainstream media), you did a good job. But never once did anyone broach the idea that if marijuana were legal, Rachel would be alive today.
Lane -
I produced this story and I think if you really watched the entire report and all that was included, it is not a fair conclusion that we blamed the victim and weed for her death. There was one question to the family’s attorney contending that Rachel’s using marijuana led to her death – which was answered very well by the attorney in a push-back to that notion. How you can conclude that the focus of our story was “blame the victim, blame weed” is beyond me. The focus and blame were clearly on poor policing — and questions were raised about the war on drugs in general. We even mentioned that only in Florida the amount of marijuana she was caught with the first time is a felony — and included her friend’s comment that someone does not need to be in drug counseling for marijuana use. I suggest you watch the program again with a more open mind.
This is what I expected from mainstream media. Blame the victim, blame the game, blame weed. Look at what will happen to you if you do drugs. It was marijuana put her in that car, not the Police. There was no mention of WHY the police wanted a gun with the drugs. Green and Bradshaw had nothing to deal WITH (hence no drug charge), they even had to steal the gun just to make the robbery. So poor Rachel was set up on both ends, the cop pushes the gun for the “big time” crime, the mark steal a gun to rob (and kill) Rachel for the $13K the cops gave her.
Dateline makes this look like a sad cautionary tale about youthful indiscretion and drug use, instead of focusing on poor policing that threatens us all. Sad.. Just Sad..