Among the many important conversations that have been stirred by the Lance Armstrong doping scandal, it may be time to begin a discussion about the use of pharmaceuticals in our society.
In responses to Lance Armstrong’s doping, Andrvew Sullivan yesterday went to bat in defense of the use of drugs.
Sullivan argues
I can see a day when human growth hormone is almost universally used among male retirees, just as testosterone is now being prescribed routinely to those facing the decline of age. I have a bias here. Without pharmaceuticals of extreme sophistication, I’d be dead. Without testosterone replacement therapy, I’d probably be terminally depressed and sick. Without Xanax, insomnia would destroy my productivity. But I hope that bias does not negate the fact that the human mind has made the human body qualitatively different than it was only a couple of decades ago. We don’t just live longer because of drugs. We live immensely better lives. This is a fact that will affect every aspect of our lives, and sports, of course, will be part of that. The money involved, the sheer power of the drugs, the availability of them … we can continue to deny this and get outraged every time it emerges, or we can begin to have a calmer, saner conversation about it.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2013/01/lancing-lance.html
I am not sure I am comfortable in the world Sullivan foresees.
There is no doubt drugs have their place in human wellness. Lives continue to be saved by the proper and responsible use of medically necessary medication.
But, I am not convinced we are capable at the moment of having the “saner conversation” Sullivan hopes for in relationship to the place and the use of drugs in our culture. We are so massively committed to medication, that it is hard to know how any even remotely rational constructive conversation on the place of medicine in our lives could be possible.
It seems to me we are deeply addicted to medication. I would need to be convinced that downing vast quantities of drugs is the way towards a healthier saner world.
Surely we can have a legitimate concern about the fact that the number of users of pharmaceutical antidepresents rose from 2.72 million in 1993 to 7.8 million in the year 2000, at a cost increase of $161 milllion to $543 million in 17 years.
Is it a sign of good health that Canadian pharmacists fill as many as 5.6 million prescriptions for sleeping pills in a year?
Is it a positive thing that apparently between 1996 and 1998 more than 17 million Americans used diet pills?
Can we live happily in a world in which 2.9 million Canadian children under the age of 17 were taking Ritalin in 2009, a rise of 55% over 4 years?
Should we be alarmed that
Canadians now spend more on prescription drugs ($24 billion) than we do on doctors ($18 billion)?
Have we thought seriously about the potential side-effects of the fact that Canada
rose from sixth to second-largest prescription-opioid consumer in the world over the last decade, with sales reaching $768-million in 2011
We have put our faith in the possibility that there might be a pill to solve all the problems in life. We are reluctant to accept almost any pain and often demand an easy and quick solution to problems that in many cases are deeply complex and have emerged over many years.
Is a pill always the most creative solution to some of the health and behavioural challenges faced by the human community? Is it possible that some of the issues we are attempting to deal with by using pharmaceuticals might be better addressed by looking at lifestyle, or discussing values, worldview, and even spirituality?
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