A nation of dopers

We all know America's a nation at war with drugs. Well, that is, unless they serve a purpose like enhancing our performances--be they ahtletic, mental or sexual.

Another great purpose of drugs, of course, is to enhance the profits of pharmaceutical companies. The more kids diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the more retalin sold. Lowering the definition of hypertension from 140/90 to 120/80 sells more channel and beta blockers. If a few thousand casualties die from heart attacks or strokes using Vioxx and similar nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, that's okay, so long as profits from their sale continue to exceed the liability from their use.

Some drugs provide us with enhanced enjoyment in social settings by reducing inhibitions or increasing our tolerance of intolerable realities. These are our legal recreational drugs like alcohol, tobacco, and Starbucks.

Then there's the illegal drugs. These are the ones we're at war with. Our prisons are overwhelmed by folks who disregarded the prohibition on these drugs. Some of these can be extremely dangerous, but most are really quite innocuous.

Despite being outlawed by the government, our own government has been known to traffic in these drugs when it suits their purpose. Like financing constitutionally illegal interventions in the affairs of foreign states to overthrow leaders or slaughter thousands of innocent civilians.

Well, I was excited to read of the newest drug on the market. It's called "Spark". It's for kids, ages 4 - 11 (KickStart Spark). It's laced with caffeine. Once past 11, kids can step up their intake with double strength AdvoCare Spark.

Spark, on its website, is advertised as helping a child "develop fully as a high-performance athlete" and fill nutritional gaps "in a sport that is physically and mentally demanding." Although executives with AdvoCare International of Texas, said Spark was not devised or marketed for children's athletic performance but rather for their overall good health.

"It's not just a caffeine delivery system; it has many more nutritional properties," claim company executives.

Elisa Odabashian, a senior policy analyst with Consumers Union, asks, "What are we coming to? What kind of society are we spawning here where everybody has to be artificially stimulated?" Dada has some amusing ideas on this but I'll let you ponder your own.