Legal Thought of the Day, No. 11

In the case of “our” hypothetical pharmacist, he may now presumably advertise not only the prices of prescription drugs, but may attempt to energetically promote their sale so long as he does so truthfully. Quite consistently with Virginia law requiring prescription drugs to be available only through a physician, “our” pharmacist might run any of the following representative advertisements in a local newspaper:

Pain getting you down? Insist that your physician prescribe Demerol. You pay a little more than for aspirin, but you get a lot more relief.

Can’t shake the flu? Get a prescription for Tetracycline from your doctor today.

Don’t spend another sleepless night. Ask your doctor to prescribe Seconal without delay.

Unless the State can show that these advertisements are either actually untruthful or misleading, it presumably is not free to restrict in any way commercial efforts on the part of those who profit from the sale of prescription drugs to put them in the widest possible circulation. But such a line simply makes no allowance whatever for what appears to have been a considered legislative judgment in most States that, while prescription drugs are a necessary and vital part of medical care and treatment, there are sufficient dangers attending their widespread use that they simply may not be promoted in the same manner as hair creams, deodorants, and toothpaste. The very real dangers that general advertising for such drug might create in terms of encouraging, even though not sanctioning, illicit use of them by individuals for whom they have not been prescribed, or by generating patient pressure upon physicians to prescribe them, are simply not dealt with in the Court’s opinion. If prescription drugs may be advertised, they may be advertised on television during family viewing time. Nothing we know about the acquisitive instincts of those who inhabit every business and profession to a greater or lesser extent gives any reason to think that such persons will not do everything they can to generate demand for these products in much the same manner and to much the same degree as demand for other commodities has been generated.

~U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist, dissenting.
Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc.
425 U.S. 748, 789 (1976)

To Stimulate or Not To Stimulate: Baby-Sitting the Economy with Rich Gardner

It was my honor and privilege last week to have a very informative exchange with Rich Gardner, occasional writer for PhillyIMC.org.  The Philadelphia Independent Media Center is a progressive, independent media outlet whose mission is to give voice to those who have traditionally been excluded from mainstream media outlets.  I regard their work and their mission very highly, even if I occasionally disagree with them on some of the finer points.

What is “Libertarian Socialism”?

I don’t know, but I’m interested in finding out.  One YouTube video that is supremely unhelpful to that end is this one, taken from a Q&A session of a Noam Chomsky lecture apparently titled “Education & Democracy”.  I haven’t heard the whole lecture, and I don’t like to take this answer out of context, but I’ll respond to it as jianenohashi presented it: