Mother’s Little Helper Has Become America’s Big Problem

Townhall.com ^ | March 21, 2018 | Bob Barr

[Pining_4_TX]

Really? Pills for conditions like high blood pressure? Many prescription drugs have saved thousands of lives and made other lives better. Just because there are people who abuse drugs doesn’t mean that the pharmaceutical industry is evil. Yeah, let’s go back to the good old days when people died at the ripe old age of 50.

[blu]

“Better Living Through Chemistry”...my favorite ad!

[ConservativeMind]

I feel like I read that twice.

I feel like I read that twice.

[StAnDeliver]

Pretty sure Townhall has been wiping their finger around inside that jar...

[jmacusa]

“They're so hard to satisfy/you can tranquilize your mind/ and go running for the shelter of your mother's little helper....’’

[Patriotic1]

+1

[zeugma]

Never screw with the CIAs drug money. They will mess you up.

[zeugma]

On literally my first day in college, I learned about the fallacy of the "one-way correlation." 100% of mass murderers drank milk as children, but that doesn't mean drinking milk causes murder. You have to also look at the other half of the correlation-- what percent of people who take psychotropic medication become mass murderers?

Ya, we know that correlation /= causation.

I suspect that particular phrase though, discounts what is going on a little too heavily. We know that psychotropic drugs can have some rather drastic effects on some folks. Everyone's brain chemistry is different, and the prescribing of drugs that seriously affect brain chemistry is more art than science, at best. Also, it's not necessarily the daily use that affects folks the most. The most dangerous time for folks on these drugs is if you have to suddenly stop taking them in a non-controlled manner for whatever reason. We know that this messes with people in some really unpredictable ways.

Therefore, their use of these drugs is worth looking at closely. It may not be causative, but then again, it could very well be a major contributing factor. Just to wave the concern away does no one any favors.

[thirst4truth]

The only answer is:

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

[T-Bone Texan]

"...How long before we relearn which plants have pharmaceutical properties?...

Cannabis has about 80 components that are beneficial. They are not psychoactive - they don't get you "high".

I am learning about them now, or rather, am learning MORE about them. The class of chemicals is called Terpenes, and they have the potential to help a lot of suffering folks.

[txnativegop]

Thanks for the info. I did not know about that.

[Celtic Conservative]

I really didn’t mean to make it sound like there ate no legitimate uses for these drugs. Obviously,there are. My problem is with those who, instead of dealing with their issues cop out and start slamming drugs. I’m happy the medication works for you. I too have sleep issues. Fortunately I have found that benadryl works fantastically for me as a sleep aid. Others, like you are not as fortunate. I disagree with the demonization of pharma as well. I hope this makes sense.

CC

[proud American in Canada]

Great song!

I woke up and can’t get back to sleep. Now where are those
pills? ;)

[proud American in Canada]

I managed to give myself a bleeding ulcer from ibuprofen. Slipped on the ice, hurt my elbow badly, took ibuprofen every day for a year. I vomited black, my dr was shocked I took so much.

He sent me to a physiotherapist and the pain is gone! Never would have believed it.

We just have become used to taking pills.

[RipSawyer]

“In modern medicine today, there seems to be nothing that cannot be cured with prescription or over-the-counter remedies.” (from the article)

I think we have a problem with misuse of language. In reality there is nothing that CAN be cured with pills, at least not that I am aware of. Temporary relief from symptoms is far from a cure, to call it a cure is like giving someone ten dollars and claiming to have made him rich.

[IrishBrigade]

’ I’ve always been a very light sleeper and gotten worse in my 60’s.’

‘Once I got a legal script for Ativan (a benso) I sleep
through the night and wake up refreshed.’

‘I’m 68 and if not for my blood pressure medication, I probably would have had a stroke by now...it was that high.’

you know, it’s very strange...if I didn’t know you aren’t myself, from the above quotes I’d have thought for sure you were...

[IrishBrigade]

‘Cannabis has about 80 components that are beneficial. They are not psychoactive - they don’t get you “high”.’

if you are ingesting them through burning (aka smoking), they are hurting you...Pa’s new medical cannabis law permits capsule form only; and the pyschoactivity is minimal, if it exists at all...

I think cannabis could be beneficial to lousy sleeper such as myself, but then what do I know about it...?

[thulldud]

Frankly I’m tired of seeing people stop medications that were really helping because the goddamn AMERICAN PRESS has convinced them that they will die if they use Nexium for more than two weeks.

40mg/day for, uh, about 13 years now. I check the obituaries every day, but so far, I'm still not listed there.

The media are not about truth or information anyway, they are there to "make you look." For that purpose, lies work just as well as truth, and are easier for them to make up, especially when they can deflect the blame for them onto their "sources".

[Pining_4_TX]

And it’s true! People who babble on about chemicals don’t seem to realize that chemicals of one kind or another make up everything. Personally, if I have a choice between a product with preservatives or one without, I gladly choose the one with preservatives. Give me the fresh bread with a miniscule amount of chemical preservatives rather than the one with mold on it after 2 days. After all, we humans are basically big walking hunks of meat, and we can use all the preserving we can get. ;-)