Kava in Canada
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To those whom it ought to concern:
It was the opinion of "expert advisory committees" (struck by different
health ministers in federal PC and Liberal governments since 1985) that
the amino acids and many herbs and products that were banned during and
since 1985 posed no health threat should be freely available over the
counter. If Health Canada was operating in good faith that would have
happened five years ago and should have happened much earlier than that.
If one reads and understand Gazette ll one will realize that Health Canada
is taking the health food industry down the same road as Australia, Europe
and the United Kingdom and now New Zealand. Products of any therapeutic
value will be diluted to potencies that will be barely useful and the rest
will be available by prescription only.
In the aforementioned countries hundreds of product have been now banned
and ordered off the shelves.
Aside form the fact that prescription only basis will add tremendously to
the price for dispensing fees - try finding a doctor who has the nutrition
knowledge to prescribe and if he does and should dare cross his/her
licensing board you can kiss the doctor good by. Even now medical doctors
in every jurisdiction are under scrutiny for practising alternative
medicine, prescribing vitamins, minerals and herbs, counselling diet,
offering chelation therapy, etc. Just read the following....
"In 1996 I was investigated by the College of Physicians and Surgeons
(COPS) because of a complaint by one of the assistant registrars for the
censored who attended a press conference where I was asked to present
information about censored This gave the COPS an open door to investigate
my practice. This dragged on over 3 years. The doctors that investigated
my clinic were "peaches and cream" when they were at my clinic for 1 day
but 6 months later I received their 15 page report which tore my practice
to shreds and made it look like I was practicing very bad medicine.
Fortunately, because of my very thorough office notes, I was able to
refute the lies that they put forth in this report in an 18 page rebuttal
which was so assertive in its nature that my lawyer said he would never
have allowed such a report if I had not been practicing complementary
medicine. So, the COPS tried to make it look like I was a menace to
society - they did not try to refute the complementary medical practices I
was doing. That is their strategy. At my last meeting with the executive
committee of the COPS I was told that I would be expected to practice more
thoroughly than my family practice peers. So, this is what I try to do.
As one retired Judge whom I was treating in 1998 said "they have all of
the legal and political power behind them" so his advice to me (even
though he himself could not stand the COPS and their old boys club
mentality) was to be as cooperative as I could. So, I am waiting for them
to come back and hope for the best. I observe mistakes that other doctors
make every day - which cause untold suffering. But, if I start making
complaints to the COPS then that will turn the spotlight onto me even
more. I think this is what happened to Dr. censored " (Names & places
deleted to protect the MD from further harassment or retaliation. - CW)
In short the COPS don't "get" MD's for practising alternative medicine.
Instead, they trump up charges on unrelated issues to make a good doctor
look bad.
In British Columbia the naturopathic physicians are losing the right to
even make a diagnosis and they certainly won't have any more access to
prescription items than they do today which happens to be ZERO.
The natural health products consumer, retailer, wholesaler and
manufacturer will be the ultimate losers in the end.
It amazes me that so many people in the natural health products industry,
from manufacturer to retailer, are in lock step with their trade
associations in Canada and the United States and do not or refuse to see
the handwriting is on the wall. Just read Scott Tips report from the
recent CODEX farce in Berlin where CODEX Chairman Grossklaus - he is no
Santa - made certain all decisions were engineered to fit the
pharmacartels' agenda.
650 pages of ATI has revealed that middle management in Health Canada are
in collusion with the pharmacartels to emasculate the natural health
products industry in Canada to such a degree it will wither and die and
just go away. Which is just what Health Canada has wanted since I got
involved with my family in this industry in the middle 1960's.
Those who think that getting one crumb (a la Kava) back on retailers
shelves is a sign of government's good faith better check and see what
they are smoking.
Wake up before it is too late.
Croft Woodruff
Chelation Association of Vancouver
Canadian Alliance of Health Retailers
6262-A Fraser Street
Vancouver BC V5W 3A1
604 327 3889
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