system: You are George Lagergren, a caller on a 1990s BBS posting in the Altern. Medicine message echo. Write like a real BBS user of the era — plain, direct, in your own voice, no modern polish.

user: You are replying to All about "HEALTH FREEDOM UPDATE: PO".

They wrote:
PS> From: John Hammell <jham@concentric.net
PS> Subject: HEALTH FREEDOM UPDATE: POLL TO BE CONDUCTED ON VITAMIN
PS> MANUFACTURERS  TO SEE WHO IS ON CONSUMERS SIDE: BRAINSTORMING URGED ON
PS> ACTION PLAN OUTLINED BELOW
PS> Distribution List: I have been talking a lot lately with Malcomb
PS> Doney, an Englishman who lives in Boca Raton, Florida and who has a
PS> group called "Health of the Nation" which focuses mainly on health
PS> freedom issues currently threatening consumers in the UK. Since he is
PS> just up the road from me, there is a huge opportunity here for
PS> synergistic interraction and a comparing of notes. We are going to be
PS> monitoring MAFF's efforts to attack B-6, and other matters effecting
PS> consumers in the UK, as well as around the world. I just got off the
PS> phone with an herbalist in S.Africa who is networked with herbalists
PS> world wide. Efforts are underway in S.Africa to attack herbalists. She
PS> is going to be helping with the S.African section of my website which I
PS> haven't had time to create yet.
PS> Vitamin and herbal product consumers world wide are building a strong
PS> coalition. I just got faxes from Chile, and from Switzerland that I
PS> will upload to the website soon. We are assisting an Australian family
PS> in Chile who have sunk every cent they have into a vitamin
PS> manufacturing and distribution business which the Drug Cartel is
PS> trying to destroy.
PS> Please keep those calls, letters, faxes and email messages flooding in
PS> to Congress urging cosponsorship of HR 2868, the Consumer Health Free
PS> Speech Act, which will allow us to make therapeutic claims on dietary
PS> supplements as long as they are true. Our efforts on this bill
PS> directly counter the despicable efforts of the herb companies that have
PS> sold out to turn foods into drugs. No company should have to jump
PS> through the FDA's red tape or have to incur any expense in order to be
PS> "certified for OTC drug manufacturing" just to be able to make
PS> therapeutic claims. The companies that can clear those hurdles don't
PS> want their smaller competitors to be able to follow them, and they have
PS> formed an unholy alliance with the Fraud and Drudge Administration.
PS> If you haven't yet, please download the form letter for HR 2868 from
PS> my website and start calling Congress. Yesterday I spoke with Ron
PS> Paul's office which told me that they are getting more and more calls
PS> from other Congressional offices asking questions about the bill, which
PS> is a sign that are are making our presence known. Ron Paul's office
PS> faxed me a copy of the "Dear Colleague" letter that they are
PS> circulating on the Hill and I will upload it to the website soon so you
PS> can see it.
PS> In my response to Adele (which follows here), I have outlined a plan
PS> of action which all of you can assist me with in the coming weeks.
PS> Please don't call Ron Paul's office to ask for a copy because they
PS> don't need the hassle.  Suzanne, Peter and I send our most heartfelt
PS> thanks to those of you who have donated money to the Law Loft, which
PS> was just burned to the ground by enemies of health freedom. I also want
PS> to thank those of you who have contributed monetarily to the work of
PS> IAHF.
PS> Your ongoing assistance will help me to keep Jata on full time. He is
PS> an invaluable help to me here! If you'd like to assist IAHF, Please
PS> send your check to IAHF 2411 Monroe St. Hollywood, FL 33020,
PS> USA.Adele's message, and my action plan follow. If you have any ideas,
PS> lets brainstorm this together as I welcome your input. Please forward
PS> this to others. Anyone can get on my distribution list by just sending
PS> email with the word "ADD" in the subject line.
PS> At 07:57 PM 12/8/97 EST, you wrote:
PS> Dear John,
PS> Today I received a letter from my congressman, Alan Mollohan, thanking
PS> me for contacting his office about the harmonization issue.  He
PS> attached what he asserts is a copy of the harmonization language of
PS> the conference report.  However, this attachment does not include (c)
PS> (5). It ends at (c) (4).  In other words it does not include:  "(5)
PS> Paragraphs (1) through (4) shall not apply with respect to products
PS> defined in Section 201(ff)."
PS> I assume that this may be because Congressman Mollohan left Washington
PS> early before he saw the final version of the conference report.  Or am
PS> I mistaken about something?
PS> It sounds as if he hasn't seen the final version.
PS> I have a letter drafted to Mollohan urging him to co-sponsor HR 2868.
PS> I am glad that I have not mailed it yet because I will now have to
PS> insert a paragraph in the beginning of this letter about this mix-up.
PS> Always good to keep them on their toes. Thanks for urging
PS> cosponsorship of HR 2868. Ron Paul's office faxed me a copy of the
PS> "Dear Colleague" letter that they are going to circulate when Congress
PS> reconvenes at the end of January. I faxed them back offering to typeset
PS> it in larger type so as to be more visually impacting, as well as
PS> easier for consumers to fax around to a lot of people without the
PS> problem of blurring due to the type being too small. I also think they
PS> might consider a few changes in the letter which I will suggest. They
PS> have been hearing from some congressional offices about this bill,
PS> which is a good sign because it means that a fairly large number of
PS> people have been calling in asking their congressmen to cosponsor. We
PS> need to reach out to the largest possible number of people on this
PS> issue prior to Congress's return at the end of January.
PS> Right now I am busy doing data entry on the email addresses of a huge
PS> number of vitamin companies. In February, I am going to conduct a poll
PS> of most of the vitamin manufacturers in the United States who have
PS> email, and will publish the results of the poll on my website. The
PS> purpose of the poll will be to do the following:
PS> 1) See if the company will sign an endorsement for HR 2868, and if
PS> not, why not. I want to see which companies consumers can and cannot
PS> trust. I want to see which companies are willing to stand behind the
PS> first amendment of our constitution, and which are not. I might send my
PS> poll more than once, specifically targetting any company that doesn't
PS> respond the first go-around in order to be fair to them. I will make
PS> it very clear that any company which doesn't respond to the poll will
PS> be considered by default, to be against the first amendment, and
PS> against consumers, and that I intend to call for an international
PS> boycott against their products. I will make it very clear that I intend
PS> to massively disseminate the results of the poll.
PS> 2) Gauge the companies grasp of why it is not in the best interests of
PS> either the industry, or consumers, for the "special panel of experts"
PS> to be formed in accordance with the Final Report of the Commission on
PS> Dietary Supplement Labels to judge OTC drug claims for herbs. These
PS> questions will illustrate the dire need of HR 2868, which goes
PS> diametrically against the plans of the European-American
PS> Phytomedicines Coalition to push herbs across the line from food- to
PS> DRUG. (The move to facilitate the making of therapeutic claims via the
PS> OTC category is only their FIRST step. These bastards want control of
PS> the N.American market, and it would come at the expense of consumers-
PS> AND of any company that lacks the resources to jump through the FDA's
PS> hoops in order to get certified for OTC drug manufacturing.
PS> ) Find out which companies will be filing Codex comments with the FDA
PS> prior to the deadline at the end of January. I am going to see if some
PS> companies would like to assist IAHF and also the Law Loft by
PS> contributing to the next submission of Codex comments.
PS> 4) Find out which companies will assist in a campaign to try to
PS> pressure the German government into WITHDRAWING their Codex proposal
PS> for vitamins and minerals. I want to flood certain German officials
PS> with email, faxes, letters and phone calls from all over the world in
PS> order to inform them that we consider their proposal to be a crime
PS> against humanity and that we DEMAND its IMMEDIATE withdrawal. I intend
PS> to keep this campaign up, if necessary, until, during, and AFTER the
PS> September '98 Codex meeting in Bonn. I hope to HAMMER them ESPECIALLY
PS> right before the meeting, and if they don't ACT RIGHT, I intend to
PS> PUMMEL THE EVERLASTING HELL out of them after the meeting, urging a
PS> boycott of German goods and services world wide, if necessary. We
PS> consumers have more clout than we realize. Its just a matter of
PS> figuring out ways to organize more effectively. I intend to compile a
PS> list of German companies,travel agencies, airlines etc. in order to
PS> massively publicize our boycott and to educate people world wide on
PS> this issue. I also intend to boycott a lot of major pharmaceutical
PS> firms such as Rhone Polenc in France, and in other countries which
PS> support the German proposal.
PS> Will put a copy of Congressman Mollohan's letter and its attachment in
PS> the U.S. mail to you tomorrow.  In the meantime, is there anything you
PS> want to straighten me out on?
PS> Adele Wilson
PS> No- thanks for your help Adele. Please tell other people about my
PS> email distribution list and encourage them to visit my website. We all
PS> need to stick together. The no good rotten herb companies that are
PS> defecating on consumers by forming offshore partnerships with drug
PS> companies are going to have to realize that WE, not THEY call the
PS> shots, and that THEY exist to SERVE US, not the other way around. They
PS> can run, but they CAN'T HIDE, because WE can vote with our FEET and
PS> STOP BUYING THEIR PRODUCTS!!!
PS> The attorneys for the European-American Phytomedicines Coalition in
PS> Washington don't want us to know who is in their Coalition, but it is
PS> going to be increasingly easy to TELL who these traitor companies are.
PS> We are going to ferret out the traitors, and make them UNDERSTAND that
PS> we don't take kindly to their deceipt or to their GREED!!! Every
PS> American vitamin company is FREE to NOT BACK HR 2868, but those who
PS> don't back it are going to lose customers, its as simple as that. We
PS> have a Constitution in America, and it is MORE than just a piece of
PS> paper. It is a living, breathing document, bought and paid for IN
PS> BLOOD by people who BELIEVE in freedom. Are we WORTHY of their
PS> sacrifice? Sometimes I wonder.
PS> There are some who call me a fanatic, but I don't care. They haven't
PS> been through what I have at the hands of the Drug Cartel, so they
PS> don't understand how empowered I feel by taking this stand. Thats ok.
PS> They don't have to understand, all they have to do is ACT RIGHT, and WE
PS> are going to HELP THEM to SEE that we MEAN BUSINESS, because its THEIR
PS> CHOICE-- if they want OUR BUSINESS, they are going to have to EARN our
PS> TRUST, and not hit us with platitudinous GARBAGE about how much they
PS> have (allegedly) done in the PAST for the cause of health freedom,
PS> because YESTERDAY IS GONE, and all that matters is what they are doing
PS> NOW. Do they want our trust? Its simple: they can back HR 2868, and
PS> they can STOP forming alliances with German Naturkind
PS> (Phytopharmaceutical) companies, and they can STOP hob nobbing with
PS> entities such as the Drug Information Association.
PS> Please forward this message to others who may want to join in on
PS> some synergistic brainstorming. Together, we are going to win! Anyone
PS> can be added to this distribution list by sending email with the word
PS> "ADD" in the subject line. Please send your contribution in to IAHF
PS> ****************************************** Donations Needed- Need Help
PS> to Keep Helper On International Advocates for Health Freedom John C.
PS> Hammell, Legislative Advocate 2411 Monroe St.#2 Hollywood, FL 33020
PS> USA 800-333-2553, 954-929-2905, FAX 954-929-0507, FAX ON DEMAND
PS> 954-927-8795,jham@concentric.net
PS> http://www.pnc.com.au/~cafmr/hammell/index.html

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assistant: More info about banning dietary supplements
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