From: LRosow@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, September 07, 2002 10:44 AM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: FDA Commercial Speech--No

Dear Mr. Troy and FDA Officials,

This is my vote AGAINST allowing "commercial speech" to have the rights and 
privileges of American Citizen free speech.

As a Republican, I am shocked that representatives of my party are 
entertaining such anti-American activities at home and abroad.

The conscience and intellect of an industry cannot be compared to those of 
human beings.  That such a notion is entertained by some members of the FDA 
is extremely troubling.

The FDA does not guarantee equal time for countering claims made by 
high-profit "commercial speechers."  Without equal time, the people of 
America are very much at risk.

As a teacher, I promote awareness of the citizen's right to free speech as it 
is protected under the United States Constitution.  Corporations deserve no 
such protection.  Corporations are NOT citizens.  People are.  
(No corporation ever agrees to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing 
but the truth--as a non-person, it is incapable of comprehending that 
concept.  As a non-person it should not be protected as though it were a 
responsible citizen.)

As a former inner-city teacher, every day I watched children of the very poor 
spend their few food coins on well-advertised junk food that had an immediate 
negative impact on classroom behavior.  Consumption of unhealthful substances 
will also, of course, have a lifelong negative impact on these children, 
these already oppressed children who have no chance to hear the 
counter-arguments that you and I know suggest junk food leads to obesity, 
diabetes, heart disease, and a variety of other life-limiting conditions.  
The very presence of junk food on campuses is a public endorsement of it.  
"Commercial speech" tells them to consume it.  They get no other message.  

Schools lack the funds to do day-to-day business, let alone pay for glitzy 
campaigns against fat-, sugar-, salt-, color- and chemical-laden so-called 
foods.  Why are there no warning labels on the packages?  Why are such things 
even allowed on campuses?  Where does the buck stop on behalf of the poor?  
It is time for every word of "commercial speech" to be held up to the light; 
it is time for every word to be absolutely true.  And it should be illegal to 
push such garbage into the mouths of babes in the schools of America.  

As a parent and grandparent, I am extremely concerned about the many ways in 
which American "commercial speech" is used to mislead our very young citizens 
into self-destructive habits, habits that create lifelong physical, 
psychological, and social problems.  

I personally have paid thousands of dollars in medical bills over the years 
for emergencies as my son's asthma was triggered by second-hand smoke in 
public places.  I have nose-bleeds and often lose my voice when I am exposed 
to second-hand smoke, which presently cannot be escaped in public; when I 
cannot talk, I cannot teach, so my students pay for that second-hand smoke, 
too.  I have lost two loved ones to the ravages of legal, life-long 
addictions; they paid for the "commercial speecher's" products in dollars and 
they paid with their lives.  How might I get compensation for these very real 
losses?  Will the responsible "commercial speecher" step forward and 
apologize for these encroachments on my right to life, liberty and the 
pursuit of happiness?

As a literacy volunteer, it has come to my attention that almost every 
pre-literate felon smokes.  Most were smokers before their first misdemeanor. 
 This is a societal issue that should make every responsible citizen pause 
and evaluate.  The voice of "commercial speech" has been heard very well and 
all of us are paying for it in many ways...every minute of every day.  

The unfettered efforts of the tobacco industry to encroach on the lifestyles 
of people in America is unconscionable.  

That America is exporting and openly promoting addictive products to people 
of other nations is in shocking contrast to the feigned interest in a 
so-called "war" on drugs.  This is a national embarrassment!  It makes us 
look silly.  But, it is also insidious.  America's image loses as the 
tentacles of the American addictive substance industries are clutching at the 
very lives of real people world-wide.  Americans lose.  Who profits?  

As a consumer, I am distressed at being bombarded by offers of 
pharmaceuticals and other unsolicited products on-line.  Such advertising is 
surely also arriving in the e-mail boxes of children who will not be 
protected by the "commercial speechers".   Indeed, the intent is to exploit 
them.

America's children are not stupid.  But, in the face of relentless, 
professionally prepared advertising, they can be brainwashed.  They can be 
trained to follow the leader...into the "commercial speech" mart and into the 
grave.   They can be trained to be unthinking consumers, with all the 
incumbent social liabilities.  That is not what I want for my America.  
Hopefully, it is not what you want for yours.

Very concerned,

La Vergne Rosow