Free Republic

The months of recalls and warnings surrounding popular prescription painkillers have done more than frighten consumers, batter drug makers' bottom lines and raise questions about the procedures and criteria by which the Food and Drug Administration approves medications. The fact that so many legal drugs pose serious health risks is also reigniting a debate over the medicinal value of other substances — illegal drugs, particularly marijuana — and what critics believe is the government's continuing resistance to studying their possible benefits. Frustrated researchers say the question is not whether marijuana could serve legitimate medical purposes. Marijuana has been looked at...

40-year-old rapist forced a teenage girl to take methamphetamine during an assault at a Klamath Falls motel, authorities said. He had help from another teenage girl, who was paid off in meth for helping hold down the victim. "It's a sign of the severity of meth epidemic locally and nationwide," said Chief Deputy Rod Dailey of the Klamath County sheriff's office. The victim was a 17 years old, and the accomplice was 15, Dailey said. Accused of rape and other charges was Tracy Lamont Matthews. All three are Klamath Falls residents and were acquaintances, Dailey said. He said it's not...

2004 The Campaign To Make Obesity A 'Disease' According to recent statements by a top official at the CDC, the governmental institutions responsible for our nation's health are currently debating whether obesity is somehow its own disease, just like cancer or tuberculosis. This development is due in large part to the corrupting influence of pharmaceutical companies, which see their revenues swelling along with growing panic over the so-called "obesity epidemic." If obesity is a disease, government and private insurance will cover their products. At the same time, if obesity is a disease, Draconian policies restricting our food choices are just...

PORTLAND, Maine -- The latest batch of anti-tobacco television advertisements created by Maine students features a guy with yellow teeth and a giant cigarette butt chasing children around. The Department of Human Services had so much success with the original ads three years ago that Maine youths were tapped again for public service announcements that began airing Monday.