# Spot The Mistake (Daily Mail) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 16, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106 "2008-06-16T15:09:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/1 "2008-06-16T15:09:18Z")
OK you Dopers, who can tell what the glaring error is in this story from the [Daily Mail](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1025763/Pictured-RAF-blow-worlds-biggest-drugs-haul-worth-225-MILLION-Afghanistan-desert.html) I, and several others, have tried to post comments on their website about that article but for some reason they will not print them. Perhaps the paper doesn’t want to admit it’s made a mistake. This is not a the first time the _Mail_ has made this sort of cock-up. A few weeks ago they printed an image supposedly showing an "al-Qaeda terrifying vision of a devastated America - a picture showing the wreckage of Washington DC after a nuclear attack. This image was actually created as an early piece of concept art for Bethesda Softwork’s _Fallout 3_ video game . Even when this mistake was pointed out to the _Mail_ they would not print a correction and have refused to allow any comments about this blunder on their website. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/2 "2008-06-16T15:34:21Z")
\ Methinks either someone has been smoking too much of one or too much of the other. Proof that Mary Jane leads to heroin. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/3 "2008-06-16T15:42:09Z")
“…turning the cannabis leaves into heroin.” BWAHAHAHAHA!!! _gasps for breath_ Ahaha…ha…ha… Best thing I’ve read EVER in the news. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/4 "2008-06-16T15:46:39Z")
The whole thing reads like a [Look Around You](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Look_Around_You) sketch, where each and every piece of information is incorrect. Ignorant twats. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/5 "2008-06-16T15:47:52Z")
Dashed clever of those Johnny Foreigners don’t you know. Thank God “our boys” have given them a pasting. That’ll teach them. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/6 "2008-06-16T15:49:40Z")
That’s wrong on so many levels. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/7 "2008-06-16T17:09:55Z")
I commented on it, just to see what happens. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/8 "2008-06-16T17:22:43Z")
Where are the 1000lb bomb holes then?? It then adds that troops set fire to the drugs using petrol. How much were those drugs worth, in the UK, snipped into little plastic bags and cut half a dozen times, maybe a lot of money, but cannabis in Afghanistan ? Hardly worth anything. All I actually learned is that a double decker bus weighs around 7 tons, would that be loaded or unloaded then? ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/9 "2008-06-16T17:25:15Z")
Does it work the other way too? Can I turn my poppy leaves into marijuana? ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/10 "2008-06-16T17:41:44Z")
This is only the beginning of Afghanistan’s alchemical road to economic mastery. Next, they’ll earn millions by turning rocks into gold and licensing their cellulosic ethanol process. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/11 "2008-06-16T18:06:10Z")
Why do you think they call it dupe? ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/12 "2008-06-16T18:15:33Z")
[QUOTE=Rayne Man] Even when this mistake was pointed out to the _Mail_ they would not print a correction and have refused to allow any comments about this blunder on their website. [/QUOTE] A few years back when I was immensely bored, I wrote to the Daily Mail to let them know that they were repeating articles twice in the same paper. They sent me vouchers for more Daily Mails 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/13 "2008-06-16T18:24:44Z")
OK, I am lost. Please enlighten me. Is it the ‘cannabis into heroin’ thing? How the (expletive avoided) am I supposed to ‘know’ that? I’ve never done drugs, nor saught to know anything about them. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/14 "2008-06-16T18:38:17Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] Is it the ‘cannabis into heroin’ thing? How the (expletive avoided) am I supposed to ‘know’ that? I’ve never done drugs, nor saught to know anything about them. [/QUOTE] You don’t have to be a junkie to know the difference between cannabis and heroin you big doofus! It’s a fundamental part of common knowledge. It’s like saying “how am I supposed to know lambs don’t turn into cows - I’m not a farmer.” ETA: why would they bother with the harrier and gigantic bombs when they’ve got petrol? Was it just a publicity stunt? ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/15 "2008-06-16T18:56:16Z")
[QUOTE=Rayne Man] OK you Dopers, who can tell what the glaring error is in this story from the [Daily Mail](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1025763/Pictured-RAF-blow-worlds-biggest-drugs-haul-worth-225-MILLION-Afghanistan-desert.html) [/QUOTE] They found opium and cannabis, which proved that heroin comes from cannabis :dubious: The Daily Mail also reports finding maggots on moulding food left in a cupboard. Since there are no flies to be seen, they suggest these maggots were generated spontaneously. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/16 "2008-06-16T19:17:39Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] ETA: why would they bother with the harrier and gigantic bombs when they’ve got petrol? Was it just a publicity stunt? [/QUOTE] You’re going to have to wait until all the troops in question come down before they’ll answer. It’ll probably be a while. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/17 "2008-06-16T19:44:22Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] OK, I am lost. Please enlighten me. Is it the ‘cannabis into heroin’ thing? How the (expletive avoided) am I supposed to ‘know’ that? I’ve never done drugs, nor saught to know anything about them. [/QUOTE] Heroin comes from morphine, which comes from the pods of the common poppy flower. Pot comes from pot plants. This is _really_ common knowledge. Even people who don’t use drugs generally already know this from drug education classes, not to mention history classes that mentioned the [Opium Wars](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_war) between England and China. [QUOTE=casdave] How much were those drugs worth, in the UK, snipped into little plastic bags and cut half a dozen times, maybe a lot of money, but cannabis in Afghanistan ? Hardly worth anything. [/QUOTE] You don’t cut pot. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/18 "2008-06-16T19:55:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Afghanistan’s deputy Interior Minister, Lieutenant General Abdul Hadi Khalid, said yesterday: ‘This is a new world record in the global war on drugs.’ You have to give him this much - he’s probably right about the record. Dealers don’t manage to turn weed into heroin very often, so this is probably the largest amount of magic weed-heroin they’ve ever blown up. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/19 "2008-06-16T20:00:49Z")
Did you notice that the report said the area was turning pot into opium ? This must be a strange geographical phenomena hitherto unknown to man. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106/20 "2008-06-16T20:03:55Z")
Ooh, ooh! I spotted the mistake! It was _reading the Daily Mail_! 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-mistake-daily-mail/453106.md?page=2)