WHITE PUNKS ON DOPE

SOMEWHERE AROUND TEN OR FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, the world went mad—or at least kids must have. During that time, Moms and Dads—many of whom were either completely straight or stoners themselves—got the curious notion that their kids were no longer normal and needed to be drugged.

Perhaps they merely got caught up in the onslaught of hundreds of millions of dollars in drug marketing—and that’s why they gave their children away to Big Pharma. Whatever it was that started the re-drugging of our Kids, though, the drug companies were loving life.

During the 90s, a 734% increase in the use of Ritalin and other gateway drugs began—and as a society, we have rarely looked back. It became the first designer drug for a new generation of children — one that was prescribed as much by teachers as medical doctors themselves. To illustrate the height of the madness, one newspaper reported that a full third of Atlanta schoolchildren were prescribed Ritalin or a similar class of drug for supposed “hyperactivity.’

One-third!

Welcome to Prozac Nation…a place where doctors and parents often avoid the hard questions, or collude with their medical journals to maintain an incessant state of cluelessness. No pun intended, but seriously, have we lost our sanity?”

The mercuric rise in the use of antidepressants and so-called ADD/ADHD drugs among children and teens is a black mark on the Western allopathic medicine. We have a duty to our kids to explore why it is so. Knowledge on natural remedies abound, but are not widely distributed to the public through Health Canada, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or their mirror agencies worldwide.

Why is that, when studies—in the hundreds and thousands— highlight how safe and effective many alternatives are? Everything from fish and flax oils to minerals  ("micronutrients," as they are called by researcher Dr. Bonnie Kaplan), to a bevy other non-toxic remedies can indeed be helpful in treating depression, bipolar, so-called ADHD, “hyperactivity," and the like.

We need to further explore the science and discredit some of the pseudo-science being dispensed by the tricksters—and we need to arm parents and citizens everywhere with the information they need to make an informed choice about an issue of vital importance.

We need to provide answers to one of humanity's most daunting questions: when it comes to our kids, to drug or not to drug? That is the question of this Age. I will continue to pursue this with great diligence through my documentaries—and it is my hope that each of you will continue to ask the hard questions and expose these untruths as well.

The present and future health of our children — and indeed all of us — depends on our willingness to do so.

AN INSPIRATION—ON ANY DAY

“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr.


TO THOSE OF YOU WHO KNOW ME or my work, it’s common knowledge that I admire Martin Luther King, Jr. immensely. He was front-and-center in my film THE WAR WITHIN, he was the driving force behind my comparative analysis of the Civil Rights movement and the Health Freedom movement in LET TRUTH BE THE BIAS, and most recently, in my documentary WE BECOME SILENT.

The title for the film came as an inspiration in the middle of the night, as happens so often with artists. It was 3:00 a.m., and I was in the midst of 17-20 hour days trying to complete this film about Codex Alimentarius. Suddenly, in my sleep, I heard MLK saying “Our lives begin to end the moment we become silent about things that matter,” and I literally sat straight up in bed. The strongest words I heard were, WE BECOME SILENT, as it correlated directly to the scheming of governments and men who would eliminate our voice—our choice— to choose medical alternatives. Once again, Dr. King played a role in my professional and personal life . . .and I cannot tell you how many HUNDREDS of people have commented to me about the power of the title WE BECOME SILENT.

During a viewing of LET TRUTH BE THE BIAS in 1994, I was standing in the back of an auditorium filled with 500 people as the introduction of the film began to play. There’s a scene in the documentary where hordes of armed policemen—with batons at the ready—join arms and push dozens of African Americans with the strength of a football team pushing a blocking ‘sled.’ Elderly men, women and children are forced to the ground—and some are trampled in the ensuing melee. While this scene was playing out, I heard someone comment rather loudly, “This guy must be a LIBERAL,” as if showing the struggle for basic human rights was a Liberal or Conservative issue.

For the record, I am a registered Independent voter, but the comment made me chortle, albeit sadly.

As a humanistic writer, I have often been compelled to take the path less traveled. As a man who vividly recalls the assassination of Dr. King in 1968, I can say uncategorically that many of the ideals he put forth during his short time on this planet are indelibly branded into my soul.

Those same ideals apply to the health freedom movement as well, and we should all honor Dr. King for blazing a peaceful trail to positive change. We can learn from not only his courage in challenging the powers-that-be, but from his vision of equality.

“Life's most persistent and urgent question,” said Dr. King, “is, 'What are you doing for others?'”

Amen, Reverend Dr. King. Amen. Your words are an inspiration—on any day.