Canada ban health food ahops and alternative meds?

[Bob]

The Canadian government has created a bill known as bill C-51. The short and short of it is that the government basically wants to stop natural medicines. PLEASE VOTE AGIANST PASSING THIS BILL. The public/ citizens doesn't have a fair say, the government wants to basically back-door this bill without the public knowing about it! So they have set up web sites.

www.thepetitionsite.com/1/StopC51

It doesn't matter where you live or what country, PLEASE sign the petition! This could mean the end of health food stores and alternative remedies.

The government, both Canadian and American have been trying to ban natural medical products for quite a while. The more popularity natural things get the less money the pharmaceutical companies get, which means the less money the government makes.

[pledm]

Yes I`ve heard of the bill,and its sad that there is one for this but its a hard fight the pharmaceutical companies are I think stronger than the oil companies.There is more money in disease.
But good find bobin.I signed,,it must be stopped hopefully it will.

[Summer]

I signed it too. It is REALLY unfair of any government to make taking natural supplements illegal! My Grandma swears by natural remedies and supplements, and has been using them for as long as I can remember. She is now a VERY healthy 86 years old! As far as I am concerned, she is living proof that natural remedies can and do work, and I would hate to see people's rights to use them be taken away.

[pledm]

Heres an article in todays Toronto Sun;

Sat, June 21, 2008
Is our right to purchase natural medicines at risk?
By TED WOLOSHYN

For the past few months I have been receiving e-mails about Bill C-51, a piece of legislation some say removes our right to buy and sell natural health products freely.

The e-mails warn of dire consequences should this federal bill pass. Opponents claim the government would have the power to, among other things, raid your home or business and seize your bank account without a warrant.

"Hogwash," federal Health Minister Tony Clement replies. "It's ridiculous and absurd. There is no court in the land that would allow this. And no one can ever point me to where it says this in the bill."

Bill C-51 is not specifically about natural health products, said Clement.

"This is about vaccines, medical devices, natural health products, prescription drugs, and food."

Clement said he checked and nothing covering these issues has changed in more than 40 years. The minister of health has power of recall just on food right now, not on drugs or other products. "We are targeting a whole range of products, and this doesn't change regulations from 2004 for natural health products," Clement said. "This is about protecting consumers."

Edwin Shendelman is manager of Supplements Plus in Toronto and like most retailers has his concerns.

"I believe the government's intention is to make health products safe for Canadians, but the way the bill is worded, down the road it may give them power to seize products they deem unsafe or make it more difficult to manufacture these products."

It's a fair statement, one that is based in our deep-seated mistrust of legislators in general. In other words, what they say may not really be what they mean.

There is also a common belief that the government and pharmaceutical companies are simply too close; partners who have bedded far too long, who together are a lethal combination for those seeking alternative medicines.

"On the prescription drug side, we are continuing to monitor drugs," Clement said. "There will be mandatory reporting of adverse reactions from prescription drugs. Hospitals will be compelled to report these adverse reactions. In the past there was no obligation.

That meant if two patients at two different hospitals had adverse reactions to one drug, it could go unrecorded.

"Pharmaceutical companies will be under a lot more scrutiny," Clement said.

Yet there are also concerns that all "therapeutic products" would have to go through a costly process that would be financially impossible for many natural health product manufacturers -- eliminating the production for public consumption.

"During the approval process we will take into account the history of products," Clement said. "We'll take a risk-based management approach, taking into account the risk of a product. For the vast majority of NHP's it will be quicker and not expensive. However if they have a product that has claims that may be risky, it will be as difficult as it currently is."

It is this kind of perceived ambiguity that causes disbelief and mistrust. However, backing away from complete diligence is not only foolish, but extremely dangerous.

"There are 15,000 to 20,000 products still waiting for approval, and if we take away a small minority it's because they failed to be approved, and I would say that 95%-99% of products carried in natural health product stores today would be okay," Clement said.

As for the suggestion that natural health products will now only be available through prescription, well, wrong again. The legal term found in virtually all pieces of legislation is, "By prescription of law."

That does not mean you need a prescription for St. John's Wort. The people who publish these flyers and send out the e-mails really need to do their homework if they wish to have any credibility at all.

So, does the man who some say works for "Big Pharma" and wants to bust into your house and confiscate your Echinacea, ingest any natural health products?

"Vitamins and those kinds of supplements," he said. "But I don't pop pills either. I think natural health products are a worthy choice. I have friends and family members who swear by them, and I think it's great, as long as they are approved."

Wow, the health minister thinks natural health products are a worthy choice. Quick, someone call a pharmacy and get this guy some drugs. He seems to have gone mad.

[Summer]

I still don't trust what the government is trying to do!