New Hampshire has always been a very conservative state, and stalwartly Republican, for the most part. We’ve had a Republican-dominated legislature and Supreme Court for as long as I remember, and bloody few Democratic governors (usually when the Repubs nominate some right-wing whacko ideologue). We even had one nutball Republican governor on the 70’s who wanted our National Guard to be armed with tactical nuclear weapons.

New Hampshire also claims to have invented the term RINO, for Republican In Name Only. Many candidates run for office as Republicans, while rejecting many of the principles of the state party, simply because many people vote the straight party ticket. Regardless of their platforms, a lot of voters don’t look past the “(R)” after their name to see the candidate. Some of these RINOs are moderates, some are quite liberal, and occasionally you will even find them pushing for out-and-out socialist positions.

Our current governor, Craig Benson, is a Republican, out of the Arrogant Rich wing of the party. (They’re balanced by the Arrogant Stupid wing, or the ideologues.) He’s the former founder and CEO of Enterasys (formerly Cabletron), a computer-networking company. He ran on a fiscally conservative platform, and moderate to conservative social issues.

One of the bigger concerns people have these days is the rising costs of prescription drugs. For those without insurance, sometimes the choice is between medication, rent, and food – pick any two.

One solution that has presented itself, especially here in New England, is to buy prescription drugs from Canadian mail-order pharmacies. The costs are substantially cheaper, because Canada has price controls on drugs, both on those imported from the United States and those manufactured in Canada.

The main problem with this: it’s technically illegal. The Food and Drug Administration says that the law forbids importing drugs from abroad. But that hasn’t stopped several mayors and governors from proposing buying drugs for their Medicaid programs from Canada. In fact, Governor Benson has put a link on the state's official web site here where people can order their drugs online.

My main objection to this practice is philosophical and ethical. It’s Socialism Lite. It’s using price controls on private industry without getting one’s hands dirty. Essentially, we’re taking drugs, “laundering” them through Canada’s socialistic price control system, and then bringing them back into the US. No Mafioso or drug dealer could aspire to do better.

If these mayors and governors are so enamored of the results of Canada’s price-control system (and, by extension, it’s socialized medicine program), let them have the courage of their convictions and put forth a similar program down here. Let’s put this before the people and let them vote to seize control of the pharmaceutical industry. After all, it’s for the elderly, the poor, and the children, isn’t it?

J.