How the US Preventive Services Task Force Drums Up Business for Big Pharma
an open letter to Task Force member David Chelmow MD
by Ballard Quass, the Drug War Philosopher
June 21, 2023
ood morning, Dr. Chelmow.
I am a VCU philosophy graduate from 1989.
I just noticed your affiliation with the US Preventive Services Task Force and wanted to share my views with you about Task Force recommendations. With all due respect, I think that the Task Force is reckoning without the Drug War. When the Task Force tells Congress that there is a need to fight anxiety, they fail to point out that we have outlawed almost all the substances that could help with that condition. Seen in this light, the report amounts to little more than a sales pitch for Big Pharma's addictive pills.
The use of MDMA fights anxiety. Coca wine and the chewing of the coca leaf fights anxiety. The use of ayahuasca fights anxiety. So does the intermittent use of laughing gas. Even the use of opium fights anxiety -- although fearmongers have been telling us for 100+ years now that humankind cannot use such drugs wisely.
I realize that the Task Force has to work within the limits of existing law, but that does not mean that you need to pretend that the Drug War does not exist, especially when its prohibitions so drastically limit the suggestions that you can pass on to Congress.
You would be doing a great service to the country and the memory of Thomas Jefferson (who rolled in his grave when the DEA confiscated his poppy plants in 1987) by adding at least a footnote to all your recommendations about mental health, pointing out that prohibition has outlawed (not only in America but now worldwide) almost all the substances that are known to combat the conditions against which you are calling for action.
I shared the above thoughts with the Task Force itself. Below you can read the response that I received from an anonymous "USPSTF Coordinator." As you'll notice, he or she completely ignores the point I made, but sticks by the Task Force's implication that the world is fine, that there is no Drug War, and that we have wonderful treatments for anxiety without the hundreds that we have outlawed. [sigh]
Thank you for your email and interest in the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (Task Force). The role of the Task Force is to improve people's health by making evidence-based recommendations about the benefits and harms of specific preventive services.
The Task Force does not make recommendations on how to treat conditions once diagnosed. However, several treatment options were reviewed to help inform whether screening is beneficial. The Task Force found that there are multiple treatment options available that can be effective, including medications, counseling, or desensitization therapies (which combine relaxation techniques with gradual exposure to help someone slowly overcome a phobia). We recommend that adults diagnosed with anxiety disorders decide together with their healthcare professional what treatment is right for them.
Thank you again for your email.
USPSTF Coordinator
Related tweet: June 22, 2023
Here's my response to the Preventive Services Task Force: "You guys are scared of even mentioning the Drug War, aren't you? This is self-censorship at work."
The outlawing of hundreds of substances that could fight anxiety is HUGELY relevant to your work. The fact that you do not even mention this makes your work political and anti-scientific.
"When two men who have been in an aggressive mood toward each other take part in the ritual, one is able to say to the other, 'Come, let us drink, for there is something between us.' " re: the Mayan use of the balche drink in Encyc of Psych Plants, by Ratsch & Hofmann
What are drug dealers doing, after all? Only selling substances that people want and have always had a right to, until racist politicians came along and decided government had the right to ration out pain relief and mystical experience.
And these are the people that Trump has promised to execute if he is elected.
Most prohibitionists think that they merely have to use the word "drugs" to win an argument. Like: "Oh, so you're in favor of DRUGS then, are you?" You can just see them sneering as they type. That's because the word "drugs" is like the word "scab": it's a loaded political term.
Buy the Drug War Comic Book by the Drug War Philosopher Brian Quass, featuring 150 hilarious op-ed pics about America's disgraceful war on Americans
You have been reading an article entitled, How the US Preventive Services Task Force Drums Up Business for Big Pharma: an open letter to Task Force member David Chelmow MD, published on June 21, 2023 on AbolishTheDEA.com. For more information about America's disgraceful drug war, which is anti-patient, anti-minority, anti-scientific, anti-mother nature, imperialistic, the establishment of the Christian Science religion, a violation of the natural law upon which America was founded, and a childish and counterproductive way of looking at the world, one which causes all of the problems that it purports to solve, and then some, visit the drug war philosopher, at abolishTheDEA.com. (philosopher's bio; go to top of this page)
ood morning, Dr. Chelmow.
You have been reading an article entitled, How the US Preventive Services Task Force Drums Up Business for Big Pharma: an open letter to Task Force member David Chelmow MD, published on June 21, 2023 on AbolishTheDEA.com. For more information about America's disgraceful drug war, which is anti-patient, anti-minority, anti-scientific, anti-mother nature, imperialistic, the establishment of the Christian Science religion, a violation of the natural law upon which America was founded, and a childish and counterproductive way of looking at the world, one which causes all of the problems that it purports to solve, and then some, visit the drug war philosopher, at abolishTheDEA.com. (philosopher's bio; go to top of this page)