It's Time to Medicate the Masses... oh wait...

Recently I was reading a thread here on ATS, that had a video linked in it. While I was scrolling down reading comments, one memeber here on ATS, suggested that the subject in the video be medicated with pharmaceuticals and placed in jail. Now I know this person was most likely just trolling/blowing off some steam. Maybe they had a hard day, heck we all do.

I know these issues have been covered seperately, and I'm sure a few of you could pull up a few threads on pharmaceuticals or trolling, but this thread, is both, so if anyone can find a specific thread dealing with pharmaceuticals and trolling together, please let me know.

Now, as one of the few people in America that doesn't take pharmaceuticals, let me tell you where I am comming from. A few years ago I was using a prescription drug, prescribed by my doctor. I was taking it as reccomended and one night, out of nowhere, I woke up and my heart was beating fast. When I say my heart was beating fast, I mean over 200 bpm. I quickly called a nurse at my local hospital and she agreed it was an adverse reaction to the medication. She asked if I wanted an ambulance and I refused because I knew I couldn't pay thousands of dollars for a ride. Luckily it was winter, ( i live in northern U.S.) and I went outside in my underwear. my heart rate immediatly began to drop and I felt a great feeling of relief. my heart rate dropped and I went back to normal, this whole episode lasted for a couple of hours. I stopped taking that medication and now, I do not take any medication. The most drugs I take are coffee and a bit of beer here and there.

I have been a fan of this website since I first found out about it maybe around 2007 or 2008 and I have seen my fair share of trolls on this site. I just recently joined as a memeber and this trolling reared its ugly head. Now the disgusting thing about trolling online, is that 1. there is no accountability - you dont have to answer for what you've said like you do in real life. Say you walk up to someone in the real world and tell them they ought to be medicated, but you have no expertise and your advise was unbidden, you may have a problem :S . 2. People speak with impunity, they don't take into consideration their own ignorance, or maybe their short sightedness.

now we can all speak subjectively all day long, but one thing everyone on here can agree with, IMO, is that America in general has been duped into over medicating. did you know that half of all Americans are on at least 1 prescription drug? and thats not including people who use other peoples medications, with drugs like adderall and vicoden.
usgovinfo.about.com...

did you know that pharmaceuticals kill more people than illegal drugs do? Now this link is just florida, but I think we could all do a bit of research and find similiarties across the country.
archive.truthout.org...

The pharmaceutical industry as we know it didn't really kick off until around 1970. in 1942, there was only enough penecilin in America for 10 people. So if pharmaceuticals didnt really start becomming popular until 1970, how much do we really know about them? Something that is 42 years old, is a grain of sand, on the beach of time. Its not significant or proven. but damn we trust them!

Today instead of saying, "they're off their rocker!" or "they got a couple of screws loose" we say, "they forgot to take their meds" but i think marilyn manson says it really well ,
"A pill to make you numb
A pill to make you dumb
A pill to make you anybody else
But all the drugs in this world
Won't save her from herself"

The fact is we have become a medicated society. People share anti-deppresants and stimulants with their friends like they are recreational drugs. Heck adderall wasn't invented until 1998 but its one of the most popular drugs I know of. If you asked many young people you know ( and they were truthful with you) they would say their friends take it recreationally,(thats nationwide) and they probably have as well.

So when I hear people troll about medication, or just offer the idea legitimately. I wonder what their motivation is? Are they being slight and trying to offend someone? Are they medicating themselves and perhaps trying to get others to join the bandwagon? Maybe they just believe in the system whole-heartedly and take everything at face value.

From one un-medicated American, I would just like to say to everyone here on ATS, that people are strange (just listen to The Doors) people will have quirks and idiosyncrasies. Let them be. They are beutiful unique people with ideas and dreams just like you! Maybe you don't medicate, maybe you aren't different in the least, and maybe your just the most sane, intelligent, level headed person you know, but that reminds me of a quote "always be wary of someone who says they are a good person"

Sometimes I am tired during the day, but I dont take meds for that, I can't concentrate on everything all the time, but I don't take ADHD medication, I am not always happy, and smiling, but I don't take anti-deppresants. I am not a perfect looking person and my brain may be loose a few screws, but this is one American who refuses to be drugged and stupified by the pharmaceutical industry. Life hurts, pain and pleasure are all part of the ride, don't dull it down if you can help it. Take care everyone

Is it me or does it sometimes seem like damn near everything got kicked off around 1970...

reply to post by jacobjones


" Life hurts, pain and pleasure are all part of the ride, don't dull it down if you can help it. "

You know I couldn't agree with you more...But, yes there's a but lol. I have tried to function without meds and it's damn near impossible for me to keep a relationship, job, or even residency, After a couple life altering events over the past year, I had a nervous breakdown and literally wanted to die, and did not care about nothing or no one. Still don't to a point, And very much would love to depart from this hell of a life I was given, I don't fear death, I embrace it. So my meds keep me from going ape s*^t on everyone.

reply to post by jacobjones


You are not alone, medications or prescribe drugs will give me reactions most of the time, so I am in that 3% of the population that have to be monitored when taking even antibiotics, the palpitations and muscle spasm with those is only a few of the side effects.

I do not go running outside on a winter night but taking a ice glass of water will also reduce the hart rate and if that doesn't work an ice pack to the face can do the trick.

You are right, most Americans over 60 take three or more medications at a time, (my mother took 9) and these are bound to give any type of side effects one way or the other and what is done about it? the medical system will medicate them even more.

When you have a medical system that along with big pharma pays the most to the whores in congress with lobbying you get the hint of how things are run in the nation.

Specially when children are pin cushions of more than 30 vaccinations before one year of age.

Then the medical community with big pharma behind trying to make sure that the youngest children be on some prescription drug before the age of ten.

It is an agenda and has always been, we in the US are the guinea pigs of the big pharma mafia with government approval.

reply to post by mytheroy


I would'nt ever shake a finger or pretend to be in a position to point a finger at someone that takes meds. If they work for you, thats the bottom line. If your living happily, your doing something right.

wrong thread

reply to post by marg6043


"It is an agenda and has always been, we in the US are the guinea pigs of the big pharma mafia with government approval. "

It's funny you say this, very often I think about how Americans are the land of the guinea pigs. corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, pharma, transport/legal system. It's laughable when its not scary or sad.

reply to post by jacobjones

The pharmaceutical industry as we know it didn't really kick off until around 1970.

That's also the time a certain plant, that I shall not mention here due to T&C's, was made illegal country wide in the US. Before it was regulated under state laws so why the needed change to outlaw something they already had regulated before the 70's?

Could this plant have been considered worthy competition to a lot of the prescribed meds now and this is why they outlawed it?

I'm not advocating anything it's just your post made me go Hmmm on the whole medicating the masses and the money they have to be making on doing so.

I won't even get started on the use of fluoridation or when Bayer and a few other pharm. companies gave the AIDS virus to a group of Japanese people back in the 80's by, ahem, accidentally giving them tainted blood thinners.

As far as I'm concerned it's another form of eugenics. Fools who take these drugs are at a higher risk of being wiped out vs the wise who aren't buying into it.

I didn't always have such a sociopathic view of this, but after spending years trying to inform people, I'm there.

Let them eat cake.

reply to post by TheLieWeLive


yes, this plant could be considered worthy

reply to post by unityemissions


CAKE For everyone!

S&F

Not much else I can add but agree with you entirely

Mods!!!

I've seen threads removed because people talk about the things were not allowed to talk about.
The OP did not mention them so please IF other posters do PLEASE remove their post, NOT the whole thread.

My mother died from liver failure, cause not by drinking, but by the number of pharmaceuticals she was on.

She was on depression meds, she was on pain meds for a slipped disc that medical refused to pay for the operation going with meds instead.

She died at 48, doctors would not look at her liver until it was too late.

Said she had the liver of an alcoholic and the women never drank a day in her life.


Because of my experience with her I am extremely careful what I take, and will not take pills unless I absolutely have to.

What does medicate mean? Sorry, I live in the city and drink a gallon of flouride a day.

reply to post by SepticSheepHerder


I suppose medicate could mean flouride, I'm not a professional but I think you should up your dose. 2 gallons?

We have become a society where taking medications is expected. You may even be "dealt with harshly" for refusing to take them.

Case in point... I worked with a woman who had been raped by a stranger as a teenager. Naturally, she had a lot of depression and anxiety. Years later she went to counseling because that's what every says you should do, right? The psychiatrist tried to put her on meds. She refused. She told me that she felt her reactions to her life were normal and she didn't want to "numb herself." A few years later, my colleague got a divorce from her husband and a custody battle for their children ensued. Her husband brought the psychiatrist into court and used her refusal to take medications against her. Needless to say, the court mandated that she must take the drugs or lose her children....even though her choice to not take the medications had, in no way, impacted her parenting skills prior to the divorce. From her story, the judge simply mandated it because the doctor recommended it. Her choice in the matter was irrelevant to the court.

Well the pharmaceutical industry is all about one thing, and that's money. Any and all alleviation of your symptoms, whether permanent or not, is just a side effect.

It's the same thing with eyesight and glasses, instead of telling people to stop straining their eyes looking at books/tv/computers all day, they simply give them a stronger prescription.

You know that old saying, money is the root of all even. It's the driving force behind pretty much everything and it becomes clear why corporations and people do what they do. They're not evil, they just want money, and lots of it.

reply to post by CIAGypsy


Do you have any concept of the difference antidepressant medications can make? They don't "numb" you at all, only regular doses of tranquilizers will do that (take my word on it, I've been on both). There's more people than you know that wouldn't be able to function without antidepressants/anti-psychotics.

2 important things you fail to mention.

You say more people die from prescription drugs. BUT your article says:
"The abuse has reached epidemic proportions," said Lisa McElhaney, a sergeant in the pharmaceutical drug diversion unit of the Broward County Sheriff's Office. "It's just explosive."
The people died from ABUSING prescription drugs, oxycontin and vicodin are specifically mentioned.
Plus you fail to consider just how many lives prescription drugs save!

You're also assuming all prescription drugs are psychoactive, when actually the majority of prescriptions aren't psychoactive.