The DEA, ACC, ABA and Truth

            Here is an interesting tidbit about BPA and the American Chemistry Council (ACC).  And another and another (a Moyers report!).  There is definitely some contention involved in how BPA was introduced for public usage as well as what it’s future will be.

 

ACC President and CEO Cal Dooley

 

            If you haven’t seen this humdinger from Michele Leonhart of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) yet then enjoy.  Some of the ideas that she is espousing re: reefer are required to justify the agency’s funding.

 

Head of the DEA Michele Leonhart

 

            Check out minute 18 of this clip from the British documentary “The Men Who Made Us Fat”, with Susan Neely, President of the American Beverage Association (ABA).  When asked about the positive correlation between soda consumption and weight gain she says:

Well there’s, uhhh, the evidence, ehhh, says that obesity is caused by people consuming too many calories and not getting enough exercise to balance it up.  Certainly our full-calorie soft drinks – our regular soft drinks – are a source of calories.  I guess if you are consuming too many calories and watching too much television and not getting enough exercise then you’re going to have a problem.

 

Bizarrely enough – bizarre cuz I buy it – she also says the industry is helping to make the US healthier.

 

President of the ABA, Susan Neely
 

 

            To consider:

            All these groups are trying to protect their interests – but are their interests something that benefits all?

            Your judgment call on these issues depends on your background. 

            Does everyone have all the facts?  Definitely not.  Individuals that comprise the public do not.  As was demonstrated in the above links about BPA, the industry itself did have the facts and were the ones writing guidelines for the FDA to use.

            Should you be operating with all the facts at hand?  Yes.  For sure.  Why would you say, “I am ignorant of the facts but I still have my opinions and I am ready to make decisions”.

            The kicker is that facts are malleable – there are different pools of facts that can be drawn on for different purposes.

            The ACC, the DEA, and the ABA all are protecting the livelihoods of their members.  If adequate research on the effects of chemicals on human health were actually conducted and made know to the population at large, chemical manufacturers would see more regulation and less profit.  If there was a referendum on basing the actions of government agencies on what the majority of Americans state they believe then the DEA would have to shift its focus away from marijuana, perhaps losing funding.  As far as the ABA is concerned, dammit I want to say that individuals should be responsible enough on their own not to over-consume soda pop – if they should even consume it at all.  However, popular perception on the whole does not vilify soda pop and the ABA of course does its job and seeks to control that popular perception.

            The theory of relativity says measurements of space and time can alter depending on where the observer is.  Not to jump wholeheartedly into the moral relativist camp (perhaps just to share a campfire with them for a night) I think that truth can be altered depending on the observer’s relation to particularly strong forces: corporate interests and gov’t agencies.