Canadian Bakin'

I've written to you before about what a problem the abuse of prescription drugs has become here in the U.S. - especially things like antidepressants, ADHD medications, and opiate painkillers like OxyContin (the drug that scandalized Rush Limbaugh)…

But now there's news from north of the border that prescription drug abuse may be as serious a problem there as it is becoming under the Stars and Stripes.

A study of 7 major Canadian metropolitan centers published in a November issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal concluded that PRESCRIPTION PAINKILLERS may have surpassed even heroin as the "street drug" of choice in some places.

The study's author points out that the problem may be far larger than the research indicates. The study's data doesn't include figures showing abuse of these drugs by those with legal prescriptions for them - only the preferences of criminals (or those being treated for addiction to other "hard" drugs, I'd have to imagine)…

One has to wonder: If the criminals are expressing a preference for drugs that are supposedly only available through doctors' offices, where are they getting them? There are only two ways-either legitimate prescription-holders are selling their pills, or doctors are selling them out the back doors or their clinics. Or, it could be that made-in-Mexico pharmaceuticals are pouring in across our disappearing southern border…

And speaking of borders, clearly, in Canada's socialist medical system, simple make-a-buck capitalism prevails.

Makes you wonder why so many "enlightened" folks here in the U.S. want to model our health-care system to mirror theirs, doesn't it? Perhaps they just want easier street-side access to the drugs they're obviously already taking…