However, Americans are already allowed to buy Canadian drugs.
As some know, I live in Grand Forks, ND. 2 hours south of Manitoba via I-29. There is a thriving business for tour groups to go to Emerson, MB to buy drugs. I mean it’s a frigging industry to get these people north to buy drugs.
Doesn’t that piss off the Canadian govt? They don’t require proof of residency to use their subsidies? Seems like Canadians should be changing laws not Americans.
(Aug. 18, 2004)
So far, the Bush administration has opposed imports, citing safety. Federal law does allow drugs to be imported at the discretion of the Health and Human Services secretary, who must certify their safety.
Critics have charged that the safety issue is a red herring, noting that most of the drugs in question are actually made by U.S. manufacturers and exported to Canada and other countries. http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/18/bush.drugs/index.html
(June 15, 2004)
In a move likely to stoke domestic political flames around President Bush, the nation’s largest senior lobby confirmed Tuesday that it will endorse bipartisan legislation to legalize importing cheap prescription drugs.
AARP spokesman Steve Hahn said the group will back the bill sponsored by Sens. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, and John McCain, Republican of Arizona.
stpauler, I’m aware of the points you’re making. But the fact is, North Dakotans and NW Minnesotans are doing it everyday. There are literally tour busses that head north on I-29 every week filled with people looking to fill scripts cheaper than in an American pharmacy.
I suspect the law only applies to mail-order for international drugs. As you’re allowed to bring back 90 days’ worth of medicine when crossing the border. Unfair to those that can’t make it to Canada in a 2 hour trip or less? Well, we live in NORTH DAKOTA! Give us a little something with winter coming! :eek:
Drugs bought online are now problematic to ship to the US. This was even more of an industry, until recently.
However the mighty government up here caved to the nutbar and the old guy.
Not saying that Kerry/Edwards will be better, not saying that we don’t have a mental case as leader here.
D’oh! On preview, no it doesn’t piss off the Canadian government, the people buying drugs to be shipped south weren’t subsidised per se. Some drugs are just cheaper here, and the weaker dollar makes it even better.
Surely they can’t be “just cheaper”. They are cheaper because of the way they are taxed and or subsidised by tax payers. The drugs can’t be more expensive in the US just because. Don’t Canada and the US have very different philosphies on healthcare?
No, they ar cheaper because the Canadians negotiate a deal with the drug companies to sell them for a cheaper price in Canada. If anyone is subsidising the Canadian druggies, it is the American Druggies.
There’s been plenty of proof provided in this thread that Edwards was in fact, not a lying douchebag on this subject. Importing prescription drugs from Canada is in fact against the law. I think an apology is in order.
I would suggest that most of the people who truly need inexpensive drugs (i.e. the elderly) don’t have access to the Internet, or the energy required to jump through loops of red tape in order to fill their prescription. It’s a massive problem at the core of the rising healthcare costs in this country. We need to take to heart the lessons other countries haved learned, and find a way to bring low-cost prescription drugs to the U.S. It’s a cost that is currently borne by individuals and companies, and it’s time a solution was found.
Maybe it would have been better to use less inflammatory words in the OP? Just going by the left-wing rules of political discourse.
The point was, Edwards tried to get the sound bite out there that getting drugs from Canada was illegal and Bush wanted to keep it that way. And that statement was patently false. He never qualified it with “international internet orders”. Buying drugs in Canada is legal, but there are limits to the amount at any given time. Throwing the illegality in such a vague way gives the impression to people that don’t know better that it’s illegal. I doubt anyone here can honestly say it wasn’t pandering to the ignorant.
To those that don’t know, you can buy drugs in Canada on a script written by a US doctor. It is not illegal to buy Canadian drugs. It’s a fact. There really isn’t much to argue over this point.
How was the statement “patently false”? It seems entirely consistent with the cite presented here in the discussion.
How is legality introduced in the quote from Edwards? It says that “they’ve blocked” it, and the cite says that Bush “maintained the prohibition”? Entirely consistent.
Either present the evidence that you are using to draw conclusions, or stop digging deeper in the hole you are in.
