Shenk makes a great point in his essay. He stated that "to suffer and long for relief is a central experience of humanity (266). But the absence of pain or discomfort or what Pablo Neruda called "the infinite ache" is never enough" (266). People always are looking for the quick fix. If their doctor tells them this pill can make you happy they will take it. In the mean time the doctor does not mention other ways upon going about this disorder. He does not mention the healthier way of going about the problem. At times doctors only feed to the dependency problems that Americans are having with drug abuse. "Fear and suspicion, secrecy and shame, the yearning for pleasure, and the wish to avoid men in blue uniforms" (266). Legal drugs produce the same altering affects as some street drugs and some near the exact same. "Here, altering the mind and body with powders and plants is not only legal but even patriotic" (267). .
"From 1970 to 1998, the inflation-adjusted revenue of major pharmaceutical companies more than quadrupled to $81 billion, 24 percent of that from drugs affecting the central nervous system and sense organs" (267). "Sales of herbal now exceed $4 billion a year" (267). This shows that drugs are a major money making industry and that is why doctors first resort is suggesting prescription medicines and we will take them. "More than one and a half million people are arrested on drug charges each year, and 400,000 are now in prison" (267). If you think some of the legal and illegal drugs have the same effects. Therefore for those people who do not have the money for the pharmacy or health insurance can get the same results from illegal drugs, and we punish those who do. With the legal ones Shenk states " We take more drugs and reward those who supply them" (269). The points that Shenk has brought up on the matter of illicit and licit drugs, but there is weakness in his argument.
