ABSTRACT

Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) propaganda sheets blanch in horror because beer and wine ads depict "the normalcy of drinking". Because moderate drinking is "normal" to most Americans. Indeed, children raised in an environment in which moderate drinking is accepted are less likely to fall prey to the "forbidden fruit" syndrome; alcohol is not a temptress, the agency of their downfall, but simply a minor part of everyday life. The Food, Drug and Insecticide Administration was created in 1928; three years later they dropped the bugs, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was off and running. The right to regulate speech is not among the FDA's enumerated powers, but that has not stopped the pill police from doing an Orwellian number on medical dissenters. The orgone box may be long gone, but the Food and Drug Administration lives on, seemingly eternal, ever vigilant in its crusade to protect the American people against an overdose of information.