Senators Joe Manchin and David Vitter are concerned about what they call “pay-to-play” meetings in which pharmaceutical manufacturers allegedly paid thousands of dollars to meet with FDA officials who oversee safety regulations on painkillers. The senators suggest these meetings might have helped Zohydro get approved by the FDA despite an advisory committee voting against it. Zohydro was approved by the FDA even though many doctors believe the drug is deadly! Manchin and Vitter have requested the financial records including any payment transfers) for groups connected to the University of Rochester that reportedly set up the meetings between pharmaceutical company representatives and FDA officials.
Zohydro’s initial manufacturer, Elan (now Alkermes), reportedly paid to send a representative to these private meetings. In their letter, Manchin and Vitter alleged that these meetings gave the drug companies undue influence over the FDA’s approval process for prescription pain medicine. University of Rochester Medical Center spokesman Christopher DiFrancesco denied all allegations, of course.
Corporate pharmaceutical criminals, who are doing business with the regulating industry, push dangerous products onto the market and make obscene profits, while medical marijuana is classified as one of the most dangerous and addictive drugs in existence. This classification in turn makes it extremely difficult for scientists to study marijuana’s potential benefits. There are too many entrepreneurs in this country who care much more about profit than about curing diseases and relieving the pain and suffering of others.
The DEA keeps medical marijuana research tied up, and pharmaceutical giants continue putting profit over human lives. Big Pharma does not want to cure cancer because treating it is far more profitable. Big Pharma would not be happy if the CBD in marijuana could cure cancer so they don’t want scientists to study the plant. Honest doctors want to cure cancer, but as soon as any doctor comes close to curing it, Big Pharma makes sure the doctor does not succeed by withholding money for research. The following story illustrates my point.
Several years ago, Canadian scientists tested this dichloroacetate (DCA) on human’s cells and it killed lung, breast and brain cancer cells and left the healthy cells alone.1 Since it could not be patented, Big Pharma had no interest in it. They were only interested in selling expensive drugs, which they claimed were expensive because of research and development. This is not true. Drug companies’ research and development expenses, the most common industry excuse for high prices, are nothing compared to their vast expenditures for marketing. The prices of pharmaceuticals are very high because of sales and promotion. How many pharmaceutical commercials do you see on TV every evening?
Retired police officer Howard Wooldridge told the Republic Report in 2012 that one of his biggest opponents on Capitol Hill was the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), given that marijuana can “tak[e] the place of everything from Advil to Vicodin and other expensive pills.” PhRMA is certainly an organization to be reckoned with. In 2013 alone, PhRMA spent nearly $18 million on lobbying, ranking it ninth in spending among all lobbying clients. Drug manufacturers gave big in the 2012 elections — nearly $21.8 million to various federal candidates and committees as well as the parties.2
The fight for medical marijuana is really a fight against big pharmaceutical companies who can’t stand the thought of making less profit, police officers who would rather arrest weed dealers than deal with violent criminals, and the prison system that makes money locking people up. If only the majority of human beings were altruistic instead of greedy, it would not be so difficult for people suffering from horrific diseases to get medical marijuana. We can’t change human nature, but we can take a big step toward helping those who are suffering by voting yes for the medical marijuana amendment this November.
Footnotes
1Scientists Cure Cancer But No One Takes Notice. (May 15, 2011). (Retrieved from http://www.sott.net/article/228583-Scientists-cure-cancer-but-no-one-takes-notice)
2Bentsen, Kendall. (August 5, 2014) Money, Not Morals, Drives Marijuana Prohibition Movement. (Retrieved from http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2014/08/money-not-morals-drives-marijuana-prohibition-movement/)