Dear Editor,
Next month Ohio residents will be voting on Issue 2, a law which supporters claim will lower the cost of prescription drugs. Students may recall petition gatherers for this movement roaming campus a few months ago asking students to sign petitions to “lower the cost of medicines.” However, it is a socialist price control scheme which will only hurt our state.
Issue 2 will require the state to pay the same amount that the US government (Veterans Administration) pays for medicine. It is built on the premise that drug manufacturers overcharge and economically rape their customers for pills. Advertisements show sick or old people choosing between food and medicines. Pictures show people in Africa buying pills for $1 which cost $150 in America. The message of Issue 2 supporters is that pharmaceutical companies are evil because they make a profit and it’s time to pass laws capping their profits.
Socialism is an evil far greater than any pharmaceutical company which ever existed. It is based on the premise that the rights of the individual are subject to the will or needs of the majority. Its servants are like ghouls who feed not on the flesh of dead men, but on the souls of the living. Next month they seek to limit the profits of drug companies. After that, oil companies or perhaps car prices. They appeal to emotions and always cry of need, not virtue.
It is virtuous that drug companies invest hundreds of millions of dollars into ventures for new drugs which save lives. Some of these ventures fail, others succeed. The free market determines which companies survive. Some companies choose to donate medicines to third world countries, only to be criticized by socialists in America who demand to receive medications just like those in third world countries because of their needs.
This November, vote for freedom. A NO vote on issue 2 is a vote against socialism and pricing controls; A NO vote is a vote for more research, good jobs and free market opportunities.
Forest Wilson
Biology Student
Member, Sinclair Student Senate