Ferri Tales

When I read, First Complementary Health and Psychic Fair deemed a success  in the May 17, 2016 Towanda Daily Review , I had to check the date to be sure that I was still in the 21st Century. Products presented at the Fair included reflexology, essential oils, footbath detox, Reiki, psychic phenomena, healing stones, acupuncture, herbal medicine, Plexus for weight loss, body detoxification, and homeopathy. Reflexology is based on an absurd theory that each body part is represented in the feet and hands. Multiple trials have shown it to be no more effective than a foot massage at curing or diagnosing anything. [ 1 ][ 2 ][ 3 ] Essential oils cover a lot of territory. It’s like saying that chemical compounds can cure stuff. It depends on what is in the oils, the purity, concentration, and the condition being treated. Anecdotal evidence of effectiveness is not enough. Randomized controlled clinical trials are required, which is how real medicines are evaluated. [ 4 ][ 5 ] Foot

(I live in Towanda, PA--a small town in Bradford County in the northeast part of the state.   According to the CDC , in 2014 Pennsylvania was ranked 8th in the U.S. for overdose deaths at 219 deaths per million age adjusted population.  West Virginia is # 1 at 355 per million, and the lowest is North Dakota at 63 per million. The U.S. average in 2014 was 147 deaths per million . I wrote the item below because of the local response to 3 overdose deaths in 3 days in mid-February, 2016. On May 5, 2016, an Addiction Awareness Rally was held in front of the Bradford County courthouse where local residents spoke about friends and family members with drug addictions, with truly heartrending accounts of the deaths of loved ones to addictions. It is tragically ironic that the backdrop for the speeches was the courthouse with the following words at the top of the building: Justice, Law, Mercy. As presented below, the War on Drugs has provided none of these.) The United States has wast