Dear Editor,

I found SN's editorial (24.6.06) titled 'Demand and supply' to be interesting, but leaning more towards the supply side and the European segment of the drug markets.

Today, I take a look at the demand side and the American market, because that is where the core of the problem resides.

US containment programmes for the most part exhibit a misplaced emphasis - perhaps deliberate - on the supply side of the drug equation.

An emphasis that inures to the uninterrupted benefit of the American consumer trapped in a chemical thrall.

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