Say no to drugs! (that are not represented by lobbyists)

I bet most Americans born in the 80s knows all about the DARE programs, designed to "keep kids off of drugs." Isn't the handy slogan now something like "protecting kids from drugs and violence" or whatnot? So where does the V for Violence fit in the acronym? Can we put something about sitting too close to the tv in there too?

Well, I'm advocating drug resistance as well. Drugs are harmful not only to us, but to our society. Check this out.

AP: Senate blocks bid to allow drug imports
By Andrew Bridges

"In a triumph for the pharmaceutical industry, the Senate on Monday killed a drive to allow consumers to buy prescription drugs from abroad at a significant savings over domestic prices. On a 49-40 vote, the Senate required the administration to certify the safety and effectiveness of imported drugs before they can be imported, a requirement that officials have said they cannot meet."

Wha- how- huh? Are you telling me that in this bastion of freedom, this beacon of light to the world, the great champion of capitalist bourgeois glory in the face of red communism, we are -- dare I say it -- allowing the monopoly of the drug industry by continuing the prohibition of foreign pharmaceuticals? Have we no pride? For what have our forefathers sacrificed, if not for freedom -- free speech, free practice of religion, free enterprise? Are we going to be continually subjected to mere colony-ship by the great motherland of pharmacopeia, with its vast armies of lobbyists and checkbooks? Are the bullets of pocket-lineage going to destroy capitalism? Where are the glory days of TR and trust-busting?

So maybe trust-busting isn't quite on target, but I doubt anybody who hasn't been bought out by the industry would disagree with the pathos behind the idea. But what a downer (nothing drug-related!) to run into that sidenote; I was just beginning to get into rhythm with my patriotic soapbox. It's easy to see how Republicans and Democrats can fall into this rut of bombast and rhetoric; it's wicked fun! Beats actually accomplishing anything!

But accomplish I must. The Senate required the measure based on safety reasons, the heart of which I cannot condemn, especially after reading an article this morning (see my other blog from today) on counterfeiting medical ingredients with poison.

But let me explain something that's bugging me. Because I have faith in logic, except when it doesn't serve me, and something just doesn't add up here.

In light of China's counterfeiting (replacing glycerin with poisonous diethylene glycol) the FDA "warned drug makers and suppliers in the United States 'to be especially vigilant' in watching for diethylene glycol" (NYT: "From China to Panama"). And when, in 1995, a US company purchased counterfeit "glycerin," the FDA had no idea about the transaction (fortunately the company caught it). So not all the imported materials going into medicines are tested by the FDA, as this demonstrates.

Yet this new legislation requires that the safety of any imported drugs be verified before importation. Lofty and admirable goal, indeed, but why the double standard? Am I missing something? Can we not apply this safety measure to imports of medical ingredients as well?

Surprise! another sidenote -- I really want to see Ned Flanders work for a drug company on the Simpsons: "triglucose-iddilly-diddilly benzoantilly-fantilly-puddely-siddily-doo! Let us pray, neighbor! diddilly"

My original conclusion, before being interrupted by my usual tangent on anything mockable, is that drugs are harmful to our society. Forget the fact that we're pumping unpronounceable chemicals into our body. Forget the fact that our little purple pills are unorganic. Forget the fact that our elders are deciding between a meal and an ever-increasingly-costly pill! Forget the fact the fact that our healthcare and insurance costs are skyrocketing. That's all fluff -- the crux of the issue is its effect on the well-being of American society, the preservation of American culture. Now tell me, truthfully, when's the last time you watched TV without seeing one of those ridiculous commercials? We're Americans, and if we have to interrupt our brains' degeneration with a commercial break, it had better be KFC and flavorless domestic beer! I rest my case.

I would like to encourage anybody who may read this to please pass this to as many friends and family and loved ones as possible. It's important to get out the message. My greatest hope is that this will become such a threat to the pharmaceutical puppet-masters that they'll pay me a large sum of money and bribe me out, too. And they can make Congress pass a law that will make the money untaxable.