It's a war on some drugs

Arrests for Ambien-impaired drivers are markedly up.

Ambien is regularly popping up as a factor in traffic arrests, sometimes involving drivers who don't even remember getting behind the wheel, according to a report in The New York Times Wednesday. In some state toxicology laboratories, Ambien shows up in the top 10 list of drugs found in impaired drivers.

In 2002, 26.5 million prescriptions were filled in the United States. You can be sure that number has risen in the intervening years. It's a drug far more dangerous than marijuana. But you won't hear any call from the prohibitionists to stop this drug scourge. This is a "respectable" drug, prescribed by your doctor and bringing a tidy profit for the pharma corps.

Besides the Big Guys take Ambien. As Colin Powell said back in 11/03, (when he was still in the good graces of the White House), in response to the question of taking sleeping pills.

"Yes. Well, I wouldn't call them that," Powell said. "They're a wonderful medication -- not medication. How would you call it? They're called Ambien, which is very good. You don't use Ambien? Everybody here uses Ambien."

That could explain a lot about this administration.