Not So Shocking

I'm sure that pretty much everyone has heard the much hyped story in the press about drugs being found in drinking water. Please note that I didn't say that it was over-hyped. Truly, I don't think that you could take this revelation too seriously. A lot of people are asking a lot of very good questions that I think that we all need answers to. First of all, I don't think that we should take it at face value when people tell us that there is no harm in this, because these drugs are all well below medical doses. On that point I say, so what? What do I care if it's not a medical dose, if I don't need any of this medication, then even the smallest amount is too much. Beside which, even though we are talking about minuscule doses, who is to say that there couldn't be some sort of reaction, even from trace amounts, of multiple various drugs. And, even if this had no affect on full grown healthy adults like myself, what about kids? What about people who are sick already? What about people who are taking medication of some kind that this stuff might interact with? Personally, I think that these are all critical questions that we need to hear answers to.

However, I want to ask this, why are we so surprised? We live in a culture where people suck down medications like candy. All kinds of medicines, Prescription and non-Prescription, needed and un-needed, good and bad. We live in a culture where drugs are advertised on TV and radio, and in newspapers and magazines, where people see these ads and go to their Dr and demand that they be given this drug, and Dr's either don't care, or fear being taken to court, and so they go ahead and give in. We live in a culture where Pharmaceutical companies give money to Dr's for Prescribing their drugs, and so drugs are given to people who don't really need them.

What did we think was happening to all of these (in some cases very powerful) drugs? Are they all being taken? Obviously not. Did we think that when someone takes these medicines, even appropriately, that that is the end of them? Certainly it is not. Some of these drugs may be fully absorbed by the body, some only partially. Any unabsorbed portion is simply passed out of the body, but even the absorbed part eventually passes through, even if in a somewhat altered state. And some people flush some of their pills and such down the toilet whole. Where did we think that all of that stuff went to? I tell you, the toilet isn't a portal that sends this stuff into the nether regions.

I have seen some explanations that sewage is treated before being returned to the environment at large, which is true, but that the treatment doesn't remove all of these drugs from the water. Again, the water is also treated, and filtered and such, before it gets used for drinking water again, but that doesn't remove all of those drugs either. Again, I can't say that I'm surprised, I imagine that these substances are difficult to remove from the water. I don't know exactly what can be done about this, but obviously something needs to be done, and obviously, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered.

I guess all I'm waiting for now is to see who they are going try to pin blame on, because you can be sure, it won't end up where it belongs.