Part 4
promoting a drug for purposes other than those approved by the federal government.Arrested for telling other doctors how he practiced medicine. WTF? What terrified me more than the obvious assault on the first amendment was my inability to come up for a reason as to why on earth the feds would decide it was worthwhile to use their resources to bust a small time doctor promoting a small time drug. The unfamiliar sensation of bafflement swirled through my brain until I saw these words:In 2000, after highly publicized cases in which young women died or were raped after GHB was slipped into their drinks, Congress designated the drug a Schedule I controlled substance, in the same class as heroin.What a relief. The story goes on:

PART 5

In 2002, after Orphan presented clinical trial data showing GHB's effectiveness against cataplexy, the F.D.A. approved the drug, under the brand name Xyrem, as a cataplexy treatment. In 2005, the agency approved Xyrem for the treatment of all forms of narcolepsy.To help persuade the F.D.A. to approve Xyrem, Orphan Medical agreed to make the drug available only from a single pharmacy in Missouri, which ships it to patients nationally. No other prescription drug, even other Schedule III medicines, is so tightly controlled.

PART 6 (final)

In case your brain didn't click like mine did when I saw that paragraph, I'll tell you what the Times doesn't. Dr. Gleason's crime was running smack dab against the "War On Drugs." The federal government was dragged kicking and screaming into approving this med, and remains unhappy about it to this day. Yes, the drug industry has Congress and the executive branch by the nads most of the time, but nothing, nothing mind you, will ever get in the way of the manufacturing of fear by those in power, as the fear they spread is what keeps them there. The war on drugs is integral to keeping us afraid. Fear drugs. Fear Xyrem. My world is back to normal.

PART 1

This Story Makes No Sense, Until My Theory Explains It All
A highly unusual thing happened today. For as long as I can remember I have lived my life secure in the knowledge that I know everything, but as I waded through a story in the New York Times, I was suddenly confronted with the possibility that I could not come up with any explanation for something that happened. Could it be that I am not the smartest person on earth? Could the tale of Dr. Peter Gleason be what exposes me to the world as suffering from a case of cluelessness? Terror and fear gripped me as I waded deeper and deeper into the story, not out of concern for Dr Gleason mind you, who is undoubtedly getting screwed, but for me, as my massive brainpower was unable to come up for a reason for the screwing.