FDA Considers Outlawing Cancer-LinkedBPA, Decision by March 31

FDA Considers Outlawing Cancer-Linked BPA, Decision by March 31 Mike Barrett Infowars.com March 9, 2012 A major decision will soon be made which will ultimately determine whether or not a known hazardous chemical will continue to inhibit food products, plastic packaging, personal care products, and an abundance of other common items.

By March 31, the United States Food and Drug Administration will decide if toxic chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) will continue to be used in widescale production. FDA Could Potentially Ban BPA, Decision to be Made

by March 31 In 2010, Canada was one of the first nations to take a large step in the fight against BPA. Even in the face of industry opposition, Canada has declared BPA to be a toxic substance. Although in 2009 the American Chemistry Council filed a formal notice of objection in labeling BPA as toxic, under the argument that it is indeed safe, the objection was rejected on July 27 2010. More recently, French lawmakers decided to ban bisphenol-A from being used in all food packaging. Maybe the U.S. will catch up in protecting public health from bisphenol-a on March 31, or maybe not.

While the ban may potentially occur shortly after the decision made by French lawmakers, the FDA says that the potential U.S. ban of BPA is prompted by a 2008 lawsuit filed against the FDA by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Months before the lawsuit, the NRDC filed a petition with the FDA requesting that BPA be banned from food packaging. No

more than 180 days can pass before the FDA legally has to respond to written petitions, but according the NRDC, the FDA failed to meet the deadline and therefore filed suit to force a response. Although the FDA is now finally answering, it took court intervention just for the organization to do it’s job.

“Now, the FDA has agreed to give us an answer — 41 months after the petition was filed,” the NRDC’s Sarah Janssen wrote in a Dec. Meanwhile, other nations have been taking a stand against BPA: • The European Union, Turkey, and other countries banned BPA from baby bottles in 2008.

• In 2007, Canada banned BPA from baby bottles • Denmark banned BPA in baby food products.

• The Japanese can industry no longer uses BPA for can linings.

Bisphenol-A, an industrial chemical know for disrupting hormones, is causing a plethora of health problems. BPA has been shown to ignite hyperactivity and depression in young girls, while also being linked to breast cancer in more than 130 studies. Infertility and fertility defects are also caused by BPA exposure.

The chemical is so ubiquitous that it has been found in the urine of nearly 93 percent of Americans. BPA levels are undoubtedly higher in those who consume food from a can, with a Harvard study finding that eating canned soup can spike urinary bisphenol-A levels by 1,200 percent compared to fresh soup.

http://www.infowars.com/

Pat Robertson Says Marijuana Use Should be Legal JESSE McKINLEY The New York Times March 9, 2012 “I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol,” Mr. Robertson said in an interview on Wednesday.

“I’ve never used marijuana and I don’t intend to, but it’s just one of those things that I think: this war on drugs just hasn’t succeeded.”

Mr. Robertson’s remarks echoed statements he made last week on “The 700 Club,” the signature program of his Christian Broadcasting Network, and other comments he made in 2010. While those earlier remarks were largely dismissed by his followers, Mr. Robertson has now apparently fully embraced the idea of legalizing marijuana, arguing that it is a way to bring down soaring rates of incarceration and reduce the social and financial costs.

“I believe in working with the hearts of people, and not locking them up,” he said.

Mr. Robertson’s remarks were hailed by pro-legalization groups, who called them a potentially important endorsement in their efforts to roll back marijuana penalties and prohibitions, which residents of Colorado and Washington will vote on this fall.

“I love him, man, I really do,” said Neill Franklin, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of current and former law enforcement officials who oppose the drug war. “He’s singing my song.”

For his part, Mr. Robertson said that he “absolutely” supported the ballot measures, though he would not campaign for them. “I’m not a crusader,” he said.

That comment may invite debate, considering Mr. Robertson’s long career of speaking out — and sometimes in ways that drew harsh criticism — in favor of conservative family values. Recently, he was quoted as saying that victims of tornadoes in

the Midwest could have avoided their fate by praying more.

But advocates of overhauling drug laws say Mr. Robertson’s newfound passion on their issue could help sway conservative voters and other religious leaders to their cause.

“Pat Robertson still has an audience of millions of people, and they respect what he has to say,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates for more liberal drug laws. “And he’s not backtracking. He’s doubling down.”

Mr. Robertson, 81, said that there had been no single event or moment that caused him to embrace legalization. Instead, his conviction that the nation “has gone overboard on this concept of being tough on crime” built up over time, he added.

“It’s completely out of control,” Mr. Robertson said. “Prisons are being overcrowded with juvenile offenders having to do with drugs. And the penalties, the maximums, some of them could get 10 years for possession of a joint of marijuana. It makes no sense at all.”

Such talk was welcomed by some other religious leaders, especially those in African-American communities who have long argued that blacks are unfairly targeted in drug cases.

Iva E. Carruthers, the general secretary for the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, the Chicago group that represents hundreds of black clergy members and lay leaders, said Mr. Robertson’s remarks suggested that he recognized that “if you’re a Hollywood exec with money, you’re treated differently than if you’re a poor kid getting off public transportation and get arrested.”

“I would hope and think that it would move the needle for the large constituencies of evangelicals he represents,” Dr. Carruthers added.

She said that she personally supported marijuana legalization, as did a growing number of conference members. But whether Mr. Robertson’s endorsement would have a lasting impact was unclear, even to Mr. Robertson.

“I think they would agree if they understood the facts as I do,” he said of other evangelical leaders. “But it’s very hard.”

He attributed much of the problem of overpopulated jails to a “liberal mindset to have an all-encompassing government.”

Conservative groups that usually align with Mr. Robertson, meanwhile, were largely silent when asked for comment on his stance.

For example, Focus on the Family — a Christian group whose disdain for same-sex

marriage and support for family values are in line with Mr. Robertson’s — declined to respond beyond saying that the group opposes legalization of marijuana for medical or recreational use.

For his part, Mr. Robertson said he was “not encouraging people to use narcotics in any way, shape or form.” But he said he saw little difference between smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol, a longstanding argument from far more liberal — and libertarian-minded — leaders.

“If people can go into a liquor store and buy a bottle of alcohol and drink it at home legally, then why do we say that the use of this other substance is somehow criminal?” he said.

Mr. Franklin, who is a Christian, said Mr. Robertson’s position was actually in line with the Gospel. “If you follow the teaching of Christ, you know that Christ is a compassionate man,” he said. “And he would not condone the imprisoning of people for nonviolent offenses.”

Mr. Robertson said he enjoyed a glass of wine now and then — “When I was in college, I hit it pretty hard, but that was before Christ.” He added that he did not think marijuana appeared in the Bible, though he noted that “Jesus made water into wine.”

“I don’t think he was a teetotaler,” he said.

And while Mr. Robertson said his earlier hints at support for legalization had led to him being “assailed by those who thought that it was terrible that I had forsaken the straight and narrow,” he added that he was not worried about criticism this time around.

“I just want to be on the right side,” he said.

“And I think on this one, I’m on the right side.”

END THE DRUG WAR THE DRUG WAR KILLS MORE PEOPLE THEN THE DRUGS THEM SELVES