"Experts" think Americans should be popping more pills Want to know just how out of control the prescription drug culture is in this country? Now there's a group of scientists who are actually coming right out and saying that "healthy people" should "have the right" to start popping Ritalin, Adderall, and any and all "brain-boosting" drugs that are already being doled out by the fistful to practically every so-called hyperactive kid and senior with memory issues. In fact, these scientists - and I use that term very loosely - actually claim that "improving brain function" by way of pills and medication is no different than doing it with the traditional eight hours of sleep, or eating a sensible diet. It was only a matter of time until someone came out and said this. It's the natural evolution of our culture's desire to medicate away all forms of human shortcoming. This position was touted by seven scientists, ethics experts, and published as an opinion piece in a recent online edition of the journal Nature. The authors kick off their argument by saying that "students are striking deals to buy and sell prescription drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin - not to get high, but to get higher grades, to provide an edge over their fellow students or to increase in some measurable way their capacity for learning." And yet the authors poo-poo the idea that this is a criminal offense. I hate to break it to these guys, but there's a good reason that drugs such as Ritalin are classified as a schedule II controlled substance - the same classification used for drugs such as morphine, cocaine, and other narcotics and amphetamines. Some of the consequences of taking this drug include heart attacks, growth problems, psychosis, blood disorders, and even death… and yet the authors think it's OK for kids to be popping these things in order to help their studying? It's a profoundly disturbing conclusion for such a large number of ostensibly educated "scientists" to have reached. One of the authors of this piece, Michael Gazzaniga of the University of California, Santa Barbara, proudly proclaimed that he "would be the first in line if safe and effective drugs were developed that trumped caffeine." So let me get this straight… polluting your body with some chemical is better than drinking a couple of cups of coffee? Luckily, I'm not the only one who looked cross-eyed at this oddball viewpoint. Leigh Turner, a University of Minnesota bioethicist derided the editorial as "a nice puff piece for selling medications for people who don't have illnesses of any kind." You want to stay sharp and focused? Make sure you're getting enough omega-3s. Get enough sleep. Have some caffeine. But if you think you need to pop a stimulant drug to improve your brain function, then maybe you do need to have your head examined. Hard on the heels of the FDA's long-overdue ban of Chinese imports that could contain melamine, the World Health Organization recommended that this substance should be more tightly controlled. Gee… you think? Sure, it's a step in the right direction, but the WHO stopped short of actually calling out China for the many cases of melamine poisoning caused by goods from that country. In fact, a report on the news website Bloomberg.com said that it's possible that the WHO recommendation could actually result in "tighter standards for food" … in Europe and America! They didn't even mention China! So while business becomes more difficult and regulated in countries that have never once been tied to a global melamine health crisis, the Chinese manufacturers just keep sailing along. Even if these tighter controls applied to companies in China, I don't know that it would make one iota's difference. The melamine crisis occurred because these manufacturers blithely ignored the EXISTING standards for the toxin. Why should there be any reason to believe that these companies will adhere to the WHO's toothless new standards. The FDA should ban all Chinese imports. In the meantime, the only person who will protect you from the dangers of Chinese goods is YOU. | 
