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No such thing as a drug free society

A new study released Thursday shows 44% of Americans take at least one prescription drug. One in six take at least three. I'm one of them and even with co-pays, they are not cheap. But here's the money quote.

The study also found that spending on health climbed 9.3 percent in 2002 to $1.6 trillion. Prescription drugs, which make up about one-tenth of the total medical bill, were the fastest growing expenditure. The price of drugs rose 5 percent, but wider use of medicines pushed total expenditures up 15.3 percent in 2002. Drug expenditures have risen at least 15 percent every year since 1998.

Meanwhile, it turns out the 12 year old who fatally shot his grandparents in South Carolina had his dose of Zoloft doubled two days before the tragic event. That's right, the extremely powerful psychoactive drug is being prescribed for a child because the pharmaceutical companies suppressed years of research showing it could cause just such suicidal and/or anti-social behavior.

Ironically we spend billions of tax dollars every year to 'protect' our children and the terminally ill from marijuana, a natural herb which probably would have done the child a lot more good. Make no mistake about it, the refusal of our government to even allow proper research into the plant and the foisting off of undertested and dangerous pharmaceutical drugs on the American public has everything to do with profit and nothing to do with safety.