Topal
had to fill a prescription at the pharmacy and asked Sunto to go along. As they
walked, a conversation began:
Topal:
Thanks for joining me. It’s a beautiful day for a walk. Peaceful and very
quiet.
Sunto:
My pleasure. What do you need at the drug store?
Topal:
I have a couple of prescriptions ready and I need to get some Sudafed for my
sinuses before the pharmacy counter closes.
Sunto:
I didn’t know you take prescription meds for your congestion.
Topal:
I don’t.
Sunto:
Then why do you need to see the pharmacy staff for over the counter pills?
Topal:
Because of the ingredients. Apparently, when bought in abundance, the
decongestant ingredients can be used to cook crystal meth or something. So,
they limit the amount you can buy.
Sunto:
Who is “they?”
Topal:
The FDA. Each state also has laws regarding pseudoephedrine. A couple of states
even require a prescription to get the drug.
Sunto:
What led up to all of this?
Topal:
This drug is essentially an amphetamine and when used incorrectly or
excessively can kill a person. A lot of truckers used to take it to stay awake
on the road. Then it started being used to cook meth and the emergency rooms
started filling up with overdoses. It became almost epidemic in scope so the
government decided to regulate the sale and usage of the drug.
Sunto:
Well, I guess that makes sense. The states that require a prescription seem to
be the smartest. They want to be sure a doctor documents a patient’s condition
before that person is allowed to handle something so potentially dangerous. I
know it’s a pain in the butt for you because you have a legitimate reason and
aren’t going to hurt yourself or anyone else with the drug.
Topal:
So, you think it’s okay for legitimate and law-abiding people to be inconvenienced
and undergo extra scrutiny to buy something legally available on the market?
Sunto: I
really do. If taking a few extra minutes out of your day makes our society,
especially our children safer, it is time well spent. No one is trying to take
away your medicine, they just want it regulated so it doesn’t revert back to
being a problem of epidemic proportion.
Topal:
I’m so glad to hear you say that. It’s nice to agree on something. Remember our
last conversation about stricter gun laws? Funny, I said the same thing to you then as you are saying to me now.
Sunto became silent as they continued
to walk.
Topal:
Oh brother, I forgot we had to walk past Planned Parenthood. Why can’t the
protestors leave those patients and doctors alone? If they are Pro-Life, why
don’t they protest in front of a gun store?
Sunto:
That’s ridiculous! Not everyone who goes into a gun store is buying a weapon to
hurt people.
Topal:
You’re right, I guess. Harassing people who are going in for a legitimate
reason is wrong. Do you know how many people going into Planned Parenthood are
having abortions?
Sunto:
Ugh, no, I don’t.
Topal: Lucky
for you, I do. Three percent have abortions performed. The rest go for cancer
screenings, STD treatment, and low income males can get vasectomies for little
or no cost. So, for every one hundred patients who enter the clinic, three
unborn fetuses are aborted. Let’s say that three people of every one hundred
patrons of a gun store buy assault type weapons and vast amounts of ammunition
for the purpose of harming others. Are more than three people murdered?
Sunto:
(Says nothing)
Topal:
You don’t have to answer that. It seems to me that the so-called Pro-Lifers who
intimidate and degrade women seeking abortions, are in fact nothing more than
Pro-Birthers. If they were truly in favor of protecting all life, they would
protest at gun shows and outside the doors of prison death houses.
Sunto:
Okay, you make a fair point, however; guns can still be bought illegally. Heck,
you can buy your sinus pills illegally, too. So, what’s the point of stricter
regulation if we can’t enforce the laws already on the books?
Topal:
I’m learning so much from you today. I never would have guessed you as an
advocate for deregulating drugs. One last thing, okay?
Sunto:
Go ahead.
Topal:
Why do we strictly regulate drugs but not guns? Why do we fight so desperately
to keep drugs off the playgrounds and not guns? Why do some groups concern
themselves with advocating for an unborn life but not lives already being
lived? Why are my sinuses under tighter scrutiny than the mental state of one
who possesses a deadly weapon? Why does any thinking person believe that an
educator carrying a gun can protect others when the U.S. Army couldn’t do it at
Fort Hood?
Sunto:
(Stops walking) I have no answers. Where can I get some answers?
Topal:
Look to the children; the children who witnessed and survived a situation that
you and I can only logically comprehend but never fully understand. Children
who will soon vote. The children who are marching; who have displayed more
courage in a week than the lobbyists and politicians have shown in a lifetime.
The children who will not let their dead friends be forgotten, who will give a
fuller and more purposeful meaning to their tragically short lives. Although it
may be toward the end of our lifetime, change will come. Change is constant and
this stage of social evolution will be for the betterment of all. Sunto, we
need to learn from each other and listen to the children. The future is theirs,
not ours. Wipe your tears and watch the children, for they “have it in [their]
power to begin the world over again.”[1]
Dona nobis pacem
