Opium: The Gateway Drug To Milk

Within an hour of mentioning Chris Snowdon's book yesterday, it arrived in my morning post ... which was delivered at lunchtime. It's such an engaging read that I've finished it and will review it here in due course.

One of the topics touched on in the book is that of the War on Drugs in all its forms. The first US shots were fired with state bans on opium between 1875 and 1890. As Chris points out, these were notable as being the first bans on consumption of a drug in American history and, although probably more motivated by a distrust of Chinese immigrants when the whole picture is studied, the official reason was of course public health.

Scroll on 130 odd years and the US legislature's idea of substances the individual should be 'saved' from has gotten a little out of hand.

In response to a request from the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, [Wisconsin Judge Patrick J. Fiedler] issued a clarification of his decision last week regarding his assessment of the constitutionality of food rights.

This refers to a farm which offers a 'cow ownership program' whereby people may choose to join the club, sponsor a cow, and to therefore be allowed - as owners - to drink raw milk. They have made that choice themselves.

The state expressed their disapproval of this a while back, but have now escalated their efforts after some of those who had chosen this milk came down with a bug called Campylobacter.

The state says that you shouldn't be allowed to take such risks, which has led to a quite astonishing ruling by the aforementioned judge.

"no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to own and use a dairy cow or a dairy herd;

"no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to consume the milk from their own cow;"

"no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of their choice..."

This isn't a battle that is restricted to Wisconsin, either. The same measures are being applied to other co-operatives which attempt to provide raw milk, to those who wish to consume it, in other states as I have written before.

From the small acorn of banning drugs 'for your own good', legislative powers have enlarged to such an extent that they are now battling your right to ingest any natural substances (just like opium, in fact) unless the state has approved them first. In so doing, the 'land of the free' has now deemed - because this judgment can be cited elsewhere - that its citizens fundamental right to consume foods and drink of their own choice has been spirited away by governmental decree.

I don't fancy McDonald's chances much once this concept is applied to fat, salt and sugar content in earnest, do you?

Now then, about your compulsory five a day ...