bunnyofdoom posted:

bunnyofdoom posted:

jm20 posted:

This is where all the WoW addicts ended up. Free game, but they slow trickle you with $20 releases here and there, or $50 vanity items, $5 unlocks, $10 skins. Unlocks are overpowered on release so everyone buys them, then they nerf the items in a month or two and rinse/repeat. They are legal sure, but they rank alongside pay day loan places for shady business practices.

PT6A posted:

Hmm, yes, an industry that's built around trapping poor people who need money for necessities in an endless cycle of poverty through committing usury isn't that much worse than a company that sells digital shiny baubles to adults who should know better.

One is morally reprehensible. The other is absolute genius.

jm20 posted:

Both are predatory, but they offer different 'experiences'.

PT6A posted:

I wasn't targeting you with that comment, rather the other people who think we need to legislate people out of their self-destructive behaviours.


By and large, "black market" tobacco is just tobacco that isn't properly tax-paid. If that were the biggest problem that were involved with the drug market, I think we'd all be properly thrilled. Further, I don't really care if prescription pills are being abused or not, provided they're being used by adults. The primary negatives that occur are all based around the fact that an addict can't get their hands on more pills affordably once the Rx runs out.

If you think that prices for legal drugs would be the same as current street prices, even with quite a lot of taxation, clearly you're not familiar with how much money can be made from smuggling liquor into dry regions.

Why are we so eager to save people from their own vices? We should do the most we can to support them if and when they decide to get clean, but that's a decision that an addict must make for themselves and we shouldn't try to force their hand by making their life shittier for them in the meantime.

quote:

American Medical Association recommends ban of drug ads to consumers
CBC News Posted: Nov 17, 2015 4:04 PM ET Last Updated: Nov 17, 2015 4:07 PM ET

The American Medical Association called for a ban on Tuesday on the practice of advertising drugs directly to consumers, a practice they say has driven up prices and led to more demand for them to be used in inappropriate circumstances.

"Today's vote in support of an advertising ban reflects concerns among physicians about the negative impact of commercially-driven promotions, and the role that marketing costs play in fuelling escalating drug prices," the AMA's chair-elect Patrice A. Harris said.

Currently, the United States and New Zealand are the only two countries in the world that allow direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs. In Canada and elsewhere, drug companies are forbidden from naming a product and implying what it is used for in their advertising campaigns, but critics say the law has many loopholes.

The AMA's statement Tuesday is a departure from its previous position, which was that there's nothing wrong with advertising pharmaceuticals as long as the information in the ad is accurate and not misleading.

The AMA says the drug industry has spent $4.5 billion US over the past two years advertising its products, an increase of 30 per cent. That's filtering down to prices where companies are recouping those costs. According to a recent report, the average price of a generic or brand-name drug rose by 4.7 per cent this year.

Other extreme cases have seen the price of rare yet vital drugs increase exponentially.

Increased advertising budgets are doing nothing to stop this practice and may represent a public health risk. "In a worst-case scenario, patients forego necessary treatments when drugs are too expensive," Harris said.

"Direct-to-consumer advertising also inflates demand for new and more expensive drugs, even when these drugs may not be appropriate," Harris said.

The pharmaceutical industry disagrees with the move, noting that direct-to-consumer ads aim to provide "scientifically accurate information to patients so that they are better informed about their health care and treatment options," said Trish Stow of the trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

The ads also encourage patients to visit their doctors' offices "for important doctor-patient conversations about health that might otherwise not take place," Stow said.

Helsing posted:

And it's naive to imagine you could open up the sale of heroin and crack without losing the ability to regulate medicine.

PT6A posted:

We sell plenty of things off-the-shelf that can kill or significantly harm you if you don't dose it properly, or if you mix it with something else, including Tylenol.

JVNO posted:

The fact tylenol is on the shelf and not over-the-counter nearly negates the point of over-the-counter in the first place. I can't believe I only learned its safety margin recently and I was blown away.

Trees and Squids posted:

If you buy vitamins or supplements you're getting scammed. Maybe your liver will die too?

Helsing posted:

I wish Canada had one investigative program that was half as good as Frontline.

JVNO posted:

Is this true of all multivitamins and all supplements? I used to use a multivit, omega-3 pills, and protein supplements when I was on a low-calorie exercise regimen.

apatheticman posted:

"The New York Times and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation examine the hidden dangers of vitamins and supplements, a multibillion-dollar industry with limited FDA oversight. "

Helsing posted:

The fact that we allow hucksters to sell dangerous products with misleading or fraudulent marketing practices and negligent production standards is a reason why we should tighten regulation, not loosen it.

Cultural Imperial posted:

Speaking of liver failure did any of you catch the last frontline on the supplements industry?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/supplements-and-safety/

Helsing posted:

Well there are actually two seperate medical questions here. One is whether there's actually any point in taking multivitamins or vitamin supplements. For instance, vitamin C supplements caught on almost entirely because of the discredited ideas of Linus Pauling. At best they are harmless, at very high doses they may cause liver failure.

Helsing posted:

However there's also a seperate issue: do these supplement pills contain the ingredients they claim to? The front-line documentary CI just posted is detailing stories where people purchased supplements that either didn't contain the products they advertised, or else contained additional harmful by-products.

Helsing posted:

As far as the specific supplements you mentioned I think that most nutritionists and doctors agree that there are proven benefits to consuming mega-3s, and protein supplements, when combined with resistance training, have been proven to increase muscle mass. You really want to pay attention to who you buy those things from though. Also if you have any serious questions you should really just talk to a doctor and not trust what I or anyone else on the internet tells you.

Count Roland posted:

CBC made a retraction a week or two ago on this story. They had their vitamins examined at a lab, and some big pharma's product was found to be dramatically lacking its supposed ingredients. Big news. Except the lab results were faulty, apparently.

jm20 posted:

BOD, rumour is the budget is going to be as low as 20B deficit to as high as about 30B. Do you have any comment before they publicize?

Helsing posted:

The fact that we allow hucksters to sell dangerous products with misleading or fraudulent marketing practices and negligent production standards is a reason why we should tighten regulation, not loosen it.

THC posted:

The new Liberal government is set to reverse controversial labour laws passed by Stephen Harper's Conservatives in the last Parliament, but the Tories are already signalling they could use their majority in the Senate to block passage of the legislation.

quote:

WATERLOO — A local union broke the law when it paid 23 members $100 each to stand behind Liberal leader Justin Trudeau when he campaigned here last Sept. 15.

That's a no-no because it's like the union making a $2,300 donation to the Liberals, which is unlawful. The Canada Elections Act says only citizens and permanent residents can make political donations.

"We didn't know that we were breaking the law," said Russ Jessop, business manager for United Association Local 527, a union representing plumbers and pipefitters. "We feel bad. But now we know. And we'll make sure we let everybody else know, now that we know the rules."

The union has voluntarily admitted its offence and has agreed it will not happen again. Canada's elections commissioner has accepted the pledge. It's called a compliance agreement and it concludes an investigation into the offence, with no conviction recorded.

Trudeau came to Local 527 hall on Frobisher Drive and pledged to invest $750 million to help train skilled workers. According to the compliance agreement, the Liberal Party asked the union to have workers there. The union responded by writing 23 cheques to its members for attending as props.

Had members volunteered without payment it would have been lawful. Liberal supporters and candidates also attended.

jm20 posted:

Is this a joke? These games are crack cocaine and rake in billions, console games have got nothing on fremium.

apatheticman posted:

Do they think they are good people?

Like at home do they go to bed without sobbing uncontrollably?

pointers posted:

thats more because console games require a dedicated $400 machine and the ability to sink 40+hrs (probably an hour+ at a time) into each of the $50 games you purchase.
freemium games you can download on a device you already own and play for the 5 minutes you spend waiting for the bus/on the toilet/whatever, spending less than a coffee every couple of weeks when you want to skip some grind or get a pretty hat. freemium gamers might play a given game more times during the day than a console user, but they are definitely not the addicts in this situation lol

Trees and Squids posted:

I've been wondering for awhile now why there isn't more of an uproar about Tylenol (or acetominophen as a painkiller in general). It's the leading cause of liver failure in North America and people eat it up like candy. Mix it with alcohol, as I'm sure many people do not know to avoid, and your liver is in for a tough loving ride. I honestly believe it shouldn't be available for purchase OTC given that we can absolutely count on people hurting themselves in massive numbers with its help.

Cultural Imperial posted:

Speaking of liver failure did any of you catch the last frontline on the supplements industry?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/supplements-and-safety/

JVNO posted:

poo poo- I honestly thought motrin was the safer of the two. Don't know where I got that idea. I've been taking extra strength motrin pretty much daily for a while now. I had an arthroscopy and dual ligament replacement on my ankle in September and after the percocets ran out it was about the only thing that worked.

Maybe would have been a better option

Eej posted:

Tylenol is the safest pain killer, that's why it's still OTC. You can basically eat them like candy perpetually IF you stay within the recommended dosage. If you overdosed (whether due to eating too many pills, taking it with alcohol, etc) then yes it is amazingly dangerous. Meanwhile if you take Aspirin, Advil/Motrin or Aleve on a regular basis at recommended dosages you open yourself up to much higher risk of gastrointestinal bleeding and, at longer durations of use, permanent kidney damage. Also they are contraindicated in a lot more situations and most importantly anyone with high blood pressure.

Of course, if you can invent a safer painkiller that is just as effective then billions of dollars are at your fingertips.

JVNO posted:

poo poo- I honestly thought motrin was the safer of the two. Don't know where I got that idea. I've been taking extra strength motrin pretty much daily for a while now. I had an arthroscopy and dual ligament replacement on my ankle in September and after the percocets ran out it was about the only thing that worked.

Maybe would have been a better option

Furnaceface posted:

Also you can overdose on eucalyptus. A thing I learned in school that really weirded me out because that means at some point in time someone sucked back 400 pounds of cough drops and probably died.