Cannabis Treatment Threatens Deadly Painkiller Industry

'Pharmaceutical painkillers are now responsible for more deaths in the United States than heroin and cocaine combined. These pharmaceuticals are responsible for more than 15,000 deaths conservatively in 2008 alone. 

With no sign of slowing down, the painkiller industry is becoming wildly popular among Americans — as a result, so is the high rate of painkiller abuse. Classified as dangerous by the U.S. government, cannabis (even in THC-free form, or free of psychoactive effects) has been identified as a powerful pain reliever in more than 80 peer-reviewed studies.' 

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WARNING: When Over the Counter Turns Lethal

'There I was paging through my latest batch of Food and Drug Administration news releases when all of a sudden one of them caught my eye. Brace yourself…the FDA finally got something right. (I know, I was shocked too!)
I must warn you, however, to not get too excited, because it’s not a big victory, but, hey, at least it’s a step in the right direction. 

The FDA has at last “admitted” that acetaminophen products carry a serious risk for severe liver injury, and it has asked drug manufacturers of prescription-strength products to limit the amount of the drug to no more than 325 milligrams (mg) per tablet or capsule. In addition, they have to label their products with a black box liver toxicity warning.' 


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More Drugs Do Not Mean Better Care

 By Dr. Mercola

 When the Cure is Worse than the Disease

 

'The average American, aged 19 to 64, now takes close to 12 prescription drugs every year!
The average senior typically fills over 31 prescriptions every year, and even children, between the ages of 0-18, are taking an average of close to 4 prescriptions annually.
But with all of these drugs, Americans are not walking around with stellar health.
Instead, chronic disease rates are rising and the latest study published in Health Affairs revealed that the United States now ranks 49th for male and female life expectancy worldwide, a ranking that has fallen sharply from fifth place in 1950.

At the same time that life expectancy has been declining at faster rates than many other industrialized nations, per capita health spending has been on the rise.
Specifically, U.S. per capita health spending rose at nearly twice the rate of other developed countries between 1970 and 2002, which means the U.S. spends more than twice the amount on health care as other developed nations.

Part of this spending is going toward the excessive and unnecessary use of prescription drugs, which as Reuters reported, Dr. Paul Griner of the University of Rochester estimated that unnecessary or inappropriate tests and procedures add up to about 20 percent of health care spending.'

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The History of Opium and The History of How the Pharmaceutical Industry Intentionally Created Drug Addictions

By Sara Cain

'Opium has been used medicinally and recreationally for centuries. Fifteenth century China doctors used opium for medicine, with some using it recreationally. It was the first effective antidepressant, sedative, and pain reliever. However, opium addictions only began in the eighteenth century, when the British began to monopolize the sale of opium. It is no coincidence that when the British, with their chemical industry, began selling opium that these chemically altered opiums began creating addictions. Completely natural, unadulterated plants are not addictive until they have been "refined" and concentrated. As a result of what the British did, opium eventually became illegal under Chinese law, but the sale from the British continued.'

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Drug Company Pays 3/4 of a Billion Dollars for Selling Adulterated Drugs

  


By Dr. Mercola

'Drug Industry – Top Criminals Crimes committed by some of the most well-known drug companies include: * Defrauding Medicare, Medicaid, and even the FDA * Illegal kick-backs * International price-setting * False claims * Fiding serious problems with their drugs * Immoral threat and intimidation tactics * Fabricated studies One case even involved obstruction of justice and eight counts of persuading employees to destroy documents in a federal investigation. And yet the crimes uncovered are just the tip of the iceberg. God only knows how many illegal and potentially harmful activities go on for each case that actually ends up seeing the light of day.'

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100,000 Americans Die Each Year from Prescription Drugs, While Pharma Companies Get Rich

'The study estimating that 100,000 Americans die each year from their prescriptions looked only at deaths from known side effects. That is, those deaths didn’t happen because the doctor made a mistake and prescribed the wrong drug, or the pharmacist made a mistake in filling the prescription, or the patient accidentally took too much.

Unfortunately, thousands of patients die from such mistakes too, but this study looked only at deaths where our present medical system wouldn’t fault anyone. Tens of thousands of people are dying every year from drugs they took just as the doctor directed. This shows you how dangerous medications are.'

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