Drugs

The ingestion, injection and inhalation of mind-altering drugs are the most common forms of opting out currently in practice. Millions do so every day.

The rise in the use of anti-depressants has coincided with the aging of the Baby Boom generation. Many in this generation hold values that are counter to those of the modern industrial world in which they are forced to live. The resulting disillusion has driven many into various forms of mental illness, as they struggle to find meaning in a world gone mad.

One major factor driving the proliferation of so many chemical "cures" has ironically been the same values that are opposed by so many countercultural patients. The pharmaceutical industry has found a lucrative market, and they are doing everything in their power to maximize the production, consumption and profit within that market.

Narcotics are a more powerful way to opt out. The rise of the underground drug economy is fed by the desperation of people with little hope for freedom and happiness. In most cases, narcotic users and distributors are poor. But even the financially wealthy opt out by thrashing their brain chemistry.

Drugs are lifeboats of the mind. They allow users to escape the reality of the impending disaster around us. – Editors

"Prozac is the most widely prescribed antidepressant medication in history. Since its introduction in 1986, Prozac has helped over 40 million patients worldwide, including those suffering from depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, bulimia nervosa and panic disorder."

"We can choose to use our growing knowledge to enslave people in ways never dreamed of before, depersonalizing them, controlling them by means so carefully selected that they will perhaps never be aware of their loss of personhood."

– Carl R. Rogers, former president of the American Psychological Association

Select "Medications" on the left side for detailed descriptions of many drugs.

"When compared with all other diseases (such as cancer and heart disease), mental illness ranks first in terms of causing disability in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe, according to a study by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2001). This groundbreaking study found that mental illness (including depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia) accounts for 25% of all disability across major industrialized countries."

– President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health

Prozac Survivor

[Prozac] "was associated with more hospitalizations, deaths, or other serious adverse reactions reported to the FDA than any other drug in America."

– Business Week (16 March 1998, p. 14)

Prozac Found in Drinking Water

"An Environment Agency report suggests so many people are taking the drug nowadays it is building up in rivers and groundwater."

Disclaimer: This web site is intended to be an information clearinghouse for Americans and others seeking information about opting out. The creators of this web site do not necessarily endorse or approve of every choice offered.

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