Then they backed the ridiculous position of the FDA that terrorists were going to attack the United States by somehow lacing prescription drugs from Canada with toxic chemicals. That didn't make any sense, either, since most prescription drugs are already toxic (they are now the third leading cause of death in the United States), meaning that it might be impossible to tell which customers were killed by the drugs vs. which customers were killed by "terrorist" contaminated drugs.
Now the pharmacists have come up with a new reason: jobs. It's the economy, stupid! Pharmacists, who are already overworked and pushing 70-hour weeks in the United States, are apparently scared silly by the idea that their work hours might be cut back to 60 a week. They need job security, you see, and that means forcing customers to buy drugs at monopoly prices in the United States. The way to accomplish that is to oppose free trade and turn ordinary, everyday citizens who buy drugs from Canada into felons. It's classic "Pat Buchanan" protectionism.
It's a smart lobbying tactic, though. If there's anything that moves Americans to action, it's the idea that "jobs will be lost." Candle makers used the same argument to discredit pane glass window manufacturers hundreds of years ago. They realized that windows would let in light, and if homes had light, they wouldn't need as many candles. So the candle makers lobbied to outlaw windows, citing the "safety concerns" of windows that could be smashed and crawled through by thieves wanting to steal stuff. Like candles.
Today's argument about drugs from Canada is just as absurd, but the pharmacists, the FDA, and the U.S. Big Pharma industry seemed dedicated to coming up with yet more creative scare tactics to accomplish their ultimate goal: shutting down free trade between the United States and Canada in order to protect the monopoly profits of U.S. drug companies.
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