In the past 25 years worries and "bad habits" of various kinds have become reclassified as mental disorders that need to be medically treated, usually by drug therapy. By redefining worries and bad habits as diseases, physicians, hospitals and drug companies now earn vast amounts of money treating these problems.

Now a significant portion of the population is being treated with an antidepressant, antianxiety, or antiphobic pill, or with drugs to control unhealthy habits such as smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, or overeating. We live in a time when it is widely accepted that "bad molecules" produce in our brains or bodies cause us to drink and eat too much, to worry excessively, or to be overly shy.

If a bad molecule can be identified, then a "good drug" can be developed that will counteract the effects of the bad molecule. As more unhealthy behaviors and anxieties become molecularized and medicalized, the medical/pharmaceutical industry continues to grow and prosper.

There are still some bad habits left waiting to be medicalized and treated. For example, gambling is widely regarded as a bad habit, especially compulsive gambling. Researchers are looking for an inherited gene carried by compulsive gamblers that is responsible for their obsession. Moving from an identified gene to a drug to comfort its effects is only a matter of time, money, and effort on the part of a dedicated drug company. And considering the number of people who like to gamble, the rewards could be enormous.

Compulsive shopping (strongly encouraged by advertising and sales clerks) is another bad habit, especially if you don't have the money to pay for your charged purchases. Drug companies are currently testing drugs in order to identify ones that put a damper on the uncontrollable urge to buy.

Consumers will soon have the choice of running out to buy some new clothes or spending the money on a prescription that will suppress the urge.

For Black America

Black-America should not fall prey to these scientific marketing campaigns. Medically prescribed drugs can be very addictive and many have not been studied long enough to know what kind of long-term effects they really have. Do not become experiments for American physicians.

This type of false and misleading practice is for otherwise normal intelligent people who basically have weak minds. Though they have succeeded in life and have education, good careers, and families, they are the ones who never tried drugs and somehow escaped the epidemic. But because of society's hurried and bustling lifestyle today, people are not coping like they should.

And because America is a society that can no longer accept personal responsibility as a moral practice, they are turning to legalized drugs. The blame-game in this country is turning in every direction. From law and frivolous lawsuits to the medical field and frivolous drug use for common problems and habits.

In all honesty, what is the difference between legal and illegal drug use? Look at Rush Limbaugh. What makes him different from the corner drug dealer or addict? Money and legal red tape, and of course, skin color. Crack cocaine and marijuana have destroyed our communities enough creating poverty-stricken neighborhoods and wasting many otherwise productive lives, do not allow legalized drugs to destroyed the productive lives we have worked 400 years to achieve.

Source from: Health and Wellness, Edlin, 2002.

© 2003 by Cartel Q