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Please do not be guilty of the above when considering the legalization of all recreational drugs. Anyone is legally permitted to kill himself slowly with tobacco, once addicted. Equally, a person may legally drink himself to death and/or wreck the lives of those around him with a bottle a day. For such people we have compassion. But for the users of illegal drugs, most of us have only contempt. It is difficult (impossible, actually) to understand the logic of making certain drugs illegal. Apart from legality, what is the difference between smoking a “joint” and having a beer? Further, doing...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Some seniors could end up paying 20 percent more for their Medicare prescription drug plans under health care legislation in the House. But overall prescription drug spending would decrease for seniors on average under the bill, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday in a new report. Seniors spending more on prescription drugs would be the ones to benefit under the legislation, while those who spend a relatively small amount on drugs would stand to take a hit, CBO said. The agency did not estimate how many seniors would fall into each category.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, announced Monday it would expand its discounted prescription drug program to offer 90-day supplies for $10 and add several women's medications at a discount. It also said it would lower the price of more than 1,000 over-the-counter drugs. The move marks the third phase of a company program that began in 2006 to provide a 30-day supply of generic prescription drugs for $4. The Bentonville-based company said the program has saved customers more than $1 billion. With the expansion, the company began filling prescriptions Monday for up to 350...

As many as 6 million Californians would benefit from legislation sent Wednesday to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that would impose mandatory prescription drug discounts. Schwarzenegger has said he will sign the bill, the result of negotiations between his staff and the Legislature's Democratic leadership. "With prescription drug costs contributing to more than 8 percent of health care inflation, this is a critical step in addressing access to affordable health care," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. The bill, by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, passed a final Assembly vote 42-28, with lawmakers sticking to party lines. "This is an opportunity to...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration on Saturday defended his proposal requiring drug companies to give discounts to up to five million uninsured, low-income residents within five years or face state sanctions. California Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Belshe said the Republican governor's election-year plan was better than Democratic bills he has vetoed the last two years. Schwarzenegger has unsuccessfully pushed a voluntary plan since taking office, and the one he formally announced Saturday gives drug companies five years to comply on their own terms - with a stick at the end if they don't, Belshe said at a Capitol news...

Republicans Risk Losing Key Voting Bloc Senior Citizens' Unhappiness With Issues Has Implications for Midterm Elections By JOHN HARWOOD Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL December 15, 2005; Page A4 WASHINGTON – While President Bush has high hopes for today's elections in Iraq, his Republican Party faces a different challenge at home: quelling the political insurgency among elderly American voters like Virginia Renfro. "They should shake [Washington] up a little bit," says Ms. Renfro, 68 years old, a retired school-cafeteria worker in LaPorte, Ind. Displeased with Mr. Bush's Social Security ideas, confused by Medicare's prescription-drug benefit and unhappy with...

MODERATOR: And now the first question as determined by a flip of a coin, it goes to Vice President Gore. Vice President Gore, you have questioned whether Governor Bush has the experience to be President of the United States. What exactly do you mean?

Dept. HHS Report on Prescription Drug Importation Summary This report identifies the liability issues raised if importation is legalized for entities within the pharmaceutical This report details the diverse opinions expressed, the data collected, and Task Force findings based on the information presented. Some of the key findings of the Task Force are:   1) The current system of drug regulation in the U.S. has been very effective in protecting public safety, but is facing new threats. It should be modified only with great care to ensure continued high standards of safety and effectiveness of the U.S. drug supply. Americans...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 - Victory may have a thousand fathers, but if President Bush's triumph this week had a Big Daddy it was indisputably Karl Rove - the seer, strategist and serious student of politics and the presidency that a grateful Mr. Bush himself referred to as the architect of his winning campaign. And with Mr. Bush's re-election, Mr. Rove has not only cemented his reputation as one of the canniest campaign gurus in a generation but has also put himself in position to shape second-term policies that could help realize his longtime goal of consolidating a broad Republican electoral...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 - A new survey suggests that the number of Medicare beneficiaries with negative views of the new prescription drug law far exceeds the number with positive views. But, it says, beneficiaries want Congress to fix what they see as problems in the law, not repeal it as many Democrats have advocated. The survey, released on Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health, found that 47 percent of beneficiaries had unfavorable views of the law, while 26 percent had favorable views. The rest said they did not have enough information to offer...

<p>President Bush signed a prescription-drug act two months ago that is actually hurting his popularity instead of boosting support from the elderly as intended.</p> <p>A Gallup survey found that public disapproval of Mr. Bush's handling of health care has increased 13 percentage points since last year. The Jan. 19-Feb. 1 survey found 57 percent of the 1,001 Americans surveyed disapprove of Mr. Bush's health care policies, compared to 35 percent of voters who approve.</p>

National leaders of six conservative organizations yesterday broke with the Republican majorities in the House and Senate, accusing them of spending like "drunken sailors," and had some strong words for President Bush as well...

Last week, President Bush pressed the House and Senate to reach a speedy agreement on a prescription-drug subsidy for seniors. "Now is the time to finish the work," he said. One deadline for crafting a deal by mid-October was missed, and there are only three weeks left before Congress leaves for Thanksgiving, which had been the target date for completing all legislative business this year. Failure to pass a prescription-drug bill would be political bad news for Republicans, who control both houses of Congress and the White House.

People have to take responsibility for the consequences of their acts Charleston Daily Mail August 23, 2002 http://www.dailymail.com/news/Opinion/200208231/ Friday August 23, 2002; 09:13 AM Rebecca Allen, 41, of Fairlea, who had injected OxyContin, died. Lawyer Ed ReBrook of Hunt and Serreno in Charleston sued Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of the drug, on behalf of Brian W. Allen, the administrator of Rebecca Allen's estate. The suit contended that the company "negligently manufactured and aggressively promoted and sold Oxycontin to pharmacies and physicians in West Virginia, and that, unbeknownst to those residents of West Virginia, including Plaintiff, but known to the manufacturer"...

Boston Globe: "Romney is a right-wing conservative Republican who tried to destroy Ted Kennedy eight years ago," said Philip W. Johnston, the state Democratic chairman. "Nobody's engaged him yet on issues. We will remind people where he stands." Romney is to be defaced currently for two reasons, his right-wing conservative affiliation and his attempt "to destroy Ted Kennedy eight years ago". How do those two items figure in your voting decision? What are we to expect in future campaigns? Where/what are the issues to be? Will the Rats evade politics altogether and simply concentrate on personal attacks? Will personal attacks...