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Why the 30th April could spell an end to your freedom
20th April 2007
Imagine a world where natural herbs and supplements are OUTLAWED.
Where natural vegetable juice is classed as a DRUG.
Where health food stores are stripped of all their products and banned from selling anything stronger than a cup of water.
Where naturopaths are FORBIDDEN to practise their craft... imprisoned or fined when they try to pass on their knowledge...
Where people with cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's aren't allowed to seek out alternative remedies to ease their pain... where they aren't deemed responsible or intelligent enough to look for their solutions to their disease... however slight the chance of a cure.
Where books that promote natural remedies are bulldozed into large piles and burned.
Have I been watching too much Scifi on late night telly again?
Okay, I realise this all sounds very Blade Runner. But stay with me on this one...
This is a scenario that really COULD happen. And soon. The seeds are already being sown. We just need to take a look across the Atlantic.
Yes, in the good old USA, some nasty things are afoot.
Believe me, this is something you WON'T be reading about in your newspaper. But in my world it's front page news.
And I reckon you're going to be just as horrified as I am...
In 10 days this new law could destroy hope for millions
In the USA, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is launching a quiet attack on natural medicines... and all who practise, preach and supply information about it.
A new FDA 'guidance' document has revealed plans to reclassify all vitamins, supplements, herbs - and even vegetable juices - as FDA-regulated drugs.
Massage oils and massage rocks will be classified as 'medical devices' and will require FDA approval before anyone can use them.
The document is called Docket No. 2006D0480, 'Draft Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration.'
It's outrageous...
It means that the mega-corporations who run America are so frightened of the rise of alternative therapies, they want to stamp them out altogether.
This is the 'Big Push' for greedy drug companies
Basically, it's an allout attack on personal freedoms by greedy corporations. A last-ditch attempt to save the conventional medical industry from a huge shift towards natural medicine.
According to Mike Adams of The Organics Consumer Association:
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'If the FDA gets its way, the United States will become a medical wasteland, dominated by corporate drug company interests, where the naturopaths are imprisoned and their products destroyed.
Supplements and herbs will become contraband, and gardeners who grow their own medicinal herbs may be raided and arrested by DEA agents wielding assault rifles.
Simply selling dried broccoli sprouts as being 'good anti-cancer foods' may land you in prison, and running a vitamin shop could result in you being arrested for 'practicing medicine'.
This will be the situation in the future…
FDA 'experts' (the same guys who reapproved Vioxx after it killed over 50,000 Americans) will decide whether herbs, supplements, vitamins or simple devices like massage stones are to be regulated as drugs and medical devices.
Of course, this is a horrifying proposal.
So rather than spark a proper national debate, it seems that the FDA and its conies tried to sneak this under the radar... keeping it rather 'schtum'.
Now word has got out and the natural health community is up in arms.
Not sure what good that will do in against the might of big business...
But the FDA is allowing public comments on this until an April 30th deadline. This means that people can petition, argue, and so forth.
Here's one of the petitions.
www.democracyinaction.org
The problem is, they've got 10 days and just an internet petition to arm themselves with.
'David vs. Goliath' springs to mind.
Let's just say, I'm not hopeful.
Why this matters to you and me
You're probably thinking that this is all happening in the United States, so it means we're safe here in the UK and Europe.
Well, no.
What happens in the USA invariably drifts across the water within the decade. The same big businesses hold sway over our government.
And the same attacks are ALREADY happening.
If you recall, last May, a letter was published in The Times slamming Homoeopathy and other complementary therapies as 'bogus' medicine.
The letter, organised by Michael Baum, was sent to 467 acute and primary care trusts across the UK.
Sue Croft, Director of Consumers for Health Choice (CHC) said: |
The group of doctors are entrenched in the old philosophy that curing disease with drugs is the way to good health.
This one-size-fits-all approach is wrong and doesn't work. It completely disregards the fact that we are all individuals with different anatomy and physiology, as well as mental attitude and lifestyle.
The doctors say there is no proof that homoeopathy or even acupuncture works (though it has been used for thousands of years). But lack of evidence today should not be a barrier for the future. If these alternative treatments are taken away - or blocked by just financial considerations, we will never really know what they are capable of.
I couldn't agree more!
It's up to us to fight for our freedom
You and I are of a similar mind. We are open to ancient healing techniques and the power of foods and natural medicines to help us fight disease.
We don't think conventional medicine is bad. Neither do we want to ban it, as the FDA want to ban non-corporate alternative health treatments.
We simply think we have a right to look for ways to supplement conventional medicine with alternatives.
It's our right to choose. It's our planet. It's our food. It's our plant-life, vitamins and minerals.
It NOT the government's...
It's NOT the corporation's.
It's OURS.
I'll be keeping an eye open for all the latest developments as they happen. And if a petition comes to the UK, believe me, I'll pass it round.
If you're interested in finding out more, check out the Consumers for Choice website here:
www.healthchoice.org.uk
Yours as ever,
Ray Collins
The Good Life Letter
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