This new definition of drug is so broad that virtually any health product or food, even if harmless, can now be classified as a drug. For instance, garlic, prunes, and coffee can now be considered drugs because of their physiological effects. Wine should also be classified as a drug, because alcohol affects mental and physiological function. Currently, there are dozens of natural food products that HPB has deemed drugs. These safe products, which are readily available in other countries, are being forced out of the Canadian market, leaving the coast clear for competing pharmaceuticals.
Some regulation is of course always necessary to maintain safety, purity, and quality control.
However, treating low risk health products like high risk drugs is ludicrous. A good example is the most widely used heart drug, nifedipine, which is prescribed to thousands of heart patients in Canada to treat high blood pressure. Medical research shows that in the short-acting form, nifedipine results in a higher death rate than any other drug used for the same purpose. Senior Canadian federal drug safety reviewers and international proponents of nifedipine have recommended that short-acting nifedipine be taken off the market. HPB said that short-acting nifedipine could stay on the market because its manufacturers made no claims about its use for hypertension.