[ExI] U.S. Medical Care

[Stefano Vaj]

On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 11:04 AM, BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:

> Agreed. The widespread use of antibiotics means that they become
> useless. This is already a problem in hospitals. And it appears that
> new antibiotics are difficult to develop and expensive.


Yes, this might be a problem, even though it is really a small part of the
entire scenario.

>
> The two generic problems with free access to drugs are the same as
> with free access to anything that might be dangerous in the wrong
> hands.  Guns, explosives, poisons, drugs, acids, nuclear technology,
> nanotechnology, etc.
>

Mmhhh, yes, this is an old issue. I am no anarco-capitalist or anarchist of
any other persuasion, and have no doubt that *some* regulations may well be
unavoidable. Yet, I am istinctively wary of the quick-and-easy solution of
defining one's own as the "good hands", and reflexively implementing
prohibitionist policies which often end up being a stop-gag measure at best
and even more often produce important distorsive and unintended effects,
from alcohol to recreational drugs to nuclear weapons.

OTOH, my stance in this field was much more limited and qualified:
"Informed, consenting adults should be allowed to assume whatever substance
they like".

You want a letal injection to stop your suffering, fine. You want to take it
home in order to administer it to your husband while he is sleeping, well,
let's discuss it first. :-)

--
Stefano Vaj
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