Jon Kyl: “Many of these laws are on the books because at one time anybody could market any product to the public and call it a…”

“Many of these laws are on the books because at one time anybody could market any product to the public and call it a drug. Those were the days of snake oil salesmen who made the wildest claims for their products. They, of course, called their products ``medicine'' and sold them as cure-alls for every possible ailment. In many cases, in the early years of this century, those products contained large quantities of alcohol, opiates or cocaine. As a result, this country experienced a major drug epidemic centered largely on women and children who mostly used these products. None of the products were subject to regulation, they did not treat any diseases, there were no cures, but they did create a lot of addicts. Later, in response to this situation, Congress passed laws regulating these products to ensure that the public was not the victim of bad medicine, false claims, and snake oil.”