Drugs: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

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Ludwig von Mises Institute:

 

 

Drugs: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

 

Mises Daily:Wednesday, October 03, 2012 by Mark Thornton

 

[An MP3 audio file of this article, narrated by the author, is available for download.]

 

The senseless Batman killings in Aurora, Colorado, as well as those that occurred years earlier in Columbine a few miles away, have something in common with the number one cause of overdose deaths in the United States and an important potential cause of teen suicide: prescription drugs approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

As an Austrian economist, I am not saying that FDA-approved drugs "caused" these problems. The people who took those drugs and did those things are the people who "caused" those bad outcomes. What I am saying is that the FDA is guilty of manipulating information and people's choices and thereby contributes to all these negative outcomes.[1] I am also not saying that all FDA-approved drugs are inherently harmful, ineffective, or should never be used.

Most importantly, FDA-approved drugs and products help to make Americans fatter, weaker, dumber, sicker, poorer, and in general less healthy. We have been