Until the practice was outlawed, senior citizens by the busload crossed the border from Maine into Canada to fill their prescriptions. They paid a fraction of what they would have paid at home.
Canadian online pharmacies still provide an option for Americans who want to save money, but importing prescription drugs is now against the law. This is not a matter of importing in quantity for resale. Simply filling a personal prescription from a pharmacy outside the U.S. is illegal.
This law forces all of us to pay a huge premium that benefits the pharmaceutical industry while threatening the health of American citizens.
A few examples:
Prozac at Canada Prescription Plus costs $0.46 per pill. At our local Walgreen’s, Prozac costs $11.72 per pill.
Aripiprazole is the generic form of Abilify, the most easily tolerated antipsychotic drug developed so far. It sells for $0.26 per pill through CanadaDrugStop. At CVS in Berkeley it sells for $26.33 per pill.
Daraprim is used to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that can cause blindness and brain damage. The cost per pill is $1.09 through Canada Pharmacy Online. At Walgreen’s in Berkeley it’s $815.69 per pill.
Many Americans cannot afford to pay for the medicines they need. Some must choose between paying rent and filling their prescriptions. Some take drugs meant for dogs and cats.
Most often people living on the financial edge simply do without. And these days more Americans are living there.
The FDA argues that this law protects Americans against the dangers of inferior drugs imported from Canada. But Canada is not a backward country that suffers from poor product regulation. There is no record of an American suffering from the ill effects of a Canadian drug.
This law is not designed to protect us. It protects the drug industry, which reaps obscene profits in this country. It’s time to repeal this law. It’s time for American citizens to join the rest of the world and enjoy the benefits of the free market.
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Opinion
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Black History Month brings in big names
Liberation after incarceration: Angela Davis on Mumia Abu-Jamal, the future of the prison industrial complex
Angela Davis speaks at the First Congregationalist Church of Oakland in Sept. 2013 as part of a remembrance of the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham.
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Health, homelessness, and H.R. 2646
For the last fifty years Americans with severe mental illness have lacked appropriate care. Many are homeless and live on the streets. Still more have been trapped in the prison system, often for decades.
But finally a solution may be at hand. H.R. 2646, The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act co-sponsored by Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) is making its way through Congress.
This bill would go a long way toward providing needed care to these most vulnerable of our citizens. First and most important, this bill would reverse the disastrous IMD (Institutions for Mental Diseases) Exclusion and allow federal funds to help pay for treatment in psychiatric hospitals and substance abuse treatment facilities.
It would also provide funds for Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training for law enforcement personnel. CIT training emphasizes the use of de-escalation techniques so as to reduce arrests and prevent violence in these highly charged situations.
The bill also encourages Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT), treatment mandated by the court as a condition of remaining in the community. Research has shown that AOT decreases hospitalization, homelessness, arrests and incarceration. Those in AOT programs tend to stay in treatment and are much less likely to make suicide attempts, harm others, or be victimized themselves.
Psychosis is terrifying. Auditory hallucinations bombard the victim with derogatory comments and threats. It’s impossible to hold onto reality; formerly trusted friends and family members appear to become enemies.
Frequently, very ill young people simply wander off and become homeless. For reasons of public policy as well as humanity please contact your congressperson and let them know you support this bill.
To find out more, go to congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2646.
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BROKEN – Services for disabled students suffer
As another round of budget cuts looms ahead, disabled students at Laney College fear their needs will be forgotten.
“[Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSPS)] is the last man on the totem pole,” says Instructional Assistant Kim Cael.
Cael is referring to how low of a priority DSPS is considered at Laney College. “It’s like that child left in the closet.”
DSPS Coordinator Marion Martin says the cuts began in 2003 and ever since then the program has been short staffed. It used to be that all students who needed accommodation on exams such as extra time could take their tests at the DSPS.
No more.
At Laney College’s Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSPS) tech lab, Psychology major Shawn Toliver discusses the challenges he faces as a dyslexic student. Toliver is also studying clinical and social work in the hopes of advocating on behalf of other people with “invisible disabilities” like dyslexia. At the DSPS lab, students can use unique software and equipment, like enlarged keyboards and mice (below).
Otherwise, there is only one room that can be put to use as a dedicated test space. One part-time proctor, Joe Cha, who doubles as a tutor for the program, also manages the DSPS website.
Karen Talbot, the learning disability specialist, is stretched thin, although she refuses to complain. She teaches two classes that meet twice a week, and she meets extensively with students who want help. In addition, she does all the student assessments, more than 30 per semester, each one a lengthy process.
Read more on BROKEN – Services for disabled students suffer…
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Inadequate support for disabled students threatens their safety, success
DISEMPOWERED: A MULTI-PART SERIES ON SERVICES FOR DISABLED STUDENTS AT THE PERALTA COLLEGES
Carol Williams’ frustration with Laney College’s student services has reached the boiling point. “Do we have to have our own little Columbine here for people to realize there is a significant need?” she asks.
Read more on Inadequate support for disabled students threatens their safety, success…
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Part-time faculty feel full-time pain
Peralta adjunct faculty endure concerns over job security
One in four community college professors receives some form of public assistance such as food stamps or Medicaid, according to a recent study by the U.C. Berkeley Institute of Labor Relations.
“When jobs don’t pay enough, workers turn to public assistance in order to meet their basic needs,” the study noted.
“These public assistance programs provide vital support to millions of working families whose employers pay less than a livable wage.”
Part-time professors at the Peralta Colleges know this struggle all too well.
(All faculty members interviewed for this article chose to remain anonymous.)
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From Pipe City to Tent City
“It’s a proven fact that anyone on the street has post-traumatic stress. And anyone who doesn’t have it should be considered not right in the head."
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District Vice Chancellor total hits 11, costs $2 million
A Laney Tower analysis: District hires three new interim vice chancellors while leaving critical positions unfilled On Flex Day the Peralta community learned that Chancellor Jowel Laguerre had appointed five more vice chancellors over the summer recess. He termed these latest appointments part of the “New Peralta Way.” His announcement […]
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Law firms collaborate to offer free services for new immigrants
Gabriela Abrego has lived in California for the last 31 years, more than half her life, renewing her green card every ten years. But on Aug. 20, she took the first decisive step toward becoming a U.S. citizen. She was joined by 180 others in the Laney College Student Center […]
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A nation of immigrants, a journey to citizenship
Oakland ceremony naturalizes over 1,200 permanent legal residents A total of 1,261 new American citizens gathered in Oakland’s Paramount Theater on Sept. 26 for the swearing-in ceremony that makes their citizenship official. These new citizens came from 98 different countries. For each new citizen this is the culmination of a […]
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SHOW US THE MONEY
Faculty protests after Peralta District claims poverty despite spending millions on administrative hires Several members of the Peralta Federation of Teachers donned orange T-shirts Sept. 27 and marched from PFT headquarters across 8th Street to the Peralta Board of Trustees meeting where faculty members protested the trustees’ approval of new […]
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We Have Your Money Now What?
Peralta district administration balloons under Chancellor Jowel Laguerre The headline above refers to a 2015 grand jury report produced by Solano County after their investigation of a Measure Q bond issue. The report investigated a campaign that promoted the bond measure and was run by Peralta Community College District Chancellor […]
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Tiny Wins BIG
On Saturday, Oct. 15, the winners of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s (SMUD) “Tiny House Competition – Build Small and Win Big” contest were announced on the campus of Cosumnes River College in Sacramento. Laney College’s entry, “The Wedge,” took first place in the Architecture category. Laney students also won […]
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Vote 2016
From parole to pot, from plastic bags to prescription drugs, the bay prepares to cast their ballots in a historic election. The Laney Tower’s guide to measures and propositions. In the Laney Tower’s final issue before the Nov. 8 election, the Tower staff offers its readers a comprehensive election guide […]
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Glitch in the System
District’s million-dollar expenditures on IT firm contracts raise more questions than answers Peralta students and faculty have struggled for years with creaky and decidedly user-unfriendly information technology. Basic tasks such as enrolling in courses or obtaining class rosters are challenging even for the computer savvy. Last November, Chancellor Jowel Laguerre […]
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Defining American
Pulitzer Prize-winning undocumented journalist visits BCC to talk the morality of citizenship Jose Antonio Vargas spoke to a rapt audience at Berkeley City College on Nov. 15 and challenged them to view citizenship in a whole new way. Vargas first learned of his undocumented status when he tried to apply for a driver’s license as a high school student in Mountain View. Since then he has devoted himself to questioning American immigration law. He frequently appears on the Bill O’Reilly show and other right-wing talk shows to argue his rights as a gay undocumented person of color. On the steps […]
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A glimmer of hope for part-time faculty
Governor Jerry Brown signed two bills into law Sept. 30 that will bring a measure of job security to part-time faculty at California’s community colleges. The bills are AB 1690, carried by former part-time instructor Jose Medina (D-Riverside) and SB 1379, carried by former teacher Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia). Under California law such part-time college faculty are counted as temporary employees and could be hired or fired at will. The new law establishes minimum standards for reemployment preference, based on four criteria: —Length of time taught at the college or district —Number of courses taught there —Professional evaluations —“Availability, willingness, and […]
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WHERE WE LIVE
Remember where we live. Today, we in the East Bay continue to suffer, like the rest of the country, under oppressive racism, economic inequality, and increasing displacement—plus the constant threat of earthquakes. So as the world grows more chaotic, we must remember where we live. Our Peralta Colleges sit in Oakland, Berkeley, and Alameda—beautiful cities in one of the most eclectic areas in the world. They might call us the “East” Bay, but we’re a region deserving of admiration all our own. We boast a long history of radical politics, one of the world’s top-ranked educational institutions, a people’s museum […]
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BUILDING THE FUTURE
Award-winning Laney Carpentry Department receives $80k grant for housing initiative The Laney College Carpentry Department won an $80,000 grant from the city of Oakland to build two Tiny House prototypes, with an eye to future mass production. Tiny Houses aim to solve homelessness through miniature housing. Matt Wolpe will head this project, along with Marisha Farnsworth. Wolpe is the part-time carpentry instructor who led a team of Laney students last year as it built an award-winning Tiny House called the Wedge. While the Wedge required four semesters to build, Wolpe and Farnsworth plan to build these prototypes in two semesters. […]
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Unhealthy healthcare
California’s single payer senate bill (SB-562) is long overdue. —— The deficiencies in our healthcare system are glaring. Americans pay more for medical care than any country in the world. Yet on standard measures of health—life expectancy and infant mortality—we fare worse than our peers. The U.S. is the only country among wealthy developed nations that does not have a government-funded universal, healthcare system. Of 13 western nations studied by the Commonwealth Fund, the U.S. is the only one lacking some form of single-payer system. We’re told in the free market that “competition” will keep prices low. But the U.S. […]
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