One might rightfully ask, "What does alternative health care have to do with free trade?" The answer is nothing! However, the pharmaceuticals, through their millions of dollars of campaign donations in the 2004 election cycle, are simply collecting on their investment and are piggy-backing on the free trade agreements. And eager politicians are all too happy to pay back their campaign benefactors.

If you know any Americans who depend on alternative health care, you might suggest that they begin to stockpile these resources, now, before it is too late. One provision contained in the CAFTA treaty is called CODEX. CODEX calls for the "harmonizing" all supplements, vitamins and prescription drugs within the confines of international law which already deviates greatly from existing American consumer medical practices and FDA policies. As a result of the CODEX provisions in the European Union, alternative health care is quickly going the way of the dinosaurs. For example, in Germany, as a result of the European Union adoption of CODEX, a bottle of Vitamin C requires a prescription and a $58 price tag. Currently, 70% of all Americans participate in the alternative health care industry. Forty percent of all Americans take daily supplements and vitamins. When the FDA is done "harmonizing" our new drug laws (i.e., CODEX), there will be a collective scream across this country unless it is done incrementally which is what I suspect will happen.

Under CODEX, supplements will be partially classified by the degree of "danger" that they pose. Any amount of Vitamin C, of 250 mgs or more, will require a doctor's prescription due to the alleged danger of Vitamin C. How many deaths occurred from Vitamin C overdose last year? None! How many people died as a result of the improper administrative application of medications? According to the American Medical Association, 100,000 patients were killed last year through medical malpractice. Medical malpractice is listed as the third leading cause of death in America. However, with the new CODEX provisions, we could be witnessing the formation of the new leading cause of death in our country.

The elimination of the alternative health care industry is not the only danger facing the American public. Although CODEX says it is focused on "Consumer Protection" the Codex Alimentarius Commission now allows seven of the 12 deadliest compounds on earth to be used on food. These seven deadly pesticides are banned by United States law and the Stockholm Convention (http://www.pops.int/), of which the United States and every member of CODEX signed.

The Stockholm Convention commits the signatories to eliminate world's 12 most dangerous Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP's) and forbids their use in the production of foods as varied as milk, soy oils, cotton seed, citrus fruits, eggs, poultry, cereal grains, pineapples, leafy and root vegetables and other food products. Yet, CODEX allows seven deadly pesticides into the abovementioned foods.

POP's remain intact in the environment for long durations, become widely distributed, accumulate in the fatty tissue of living organisms and are highly toxic to both humans and wildlife. They increase brain, bladder, lung, breast and several other cancers. Additionally POP's cause damage to the kidney, liver, adrenal and thyroid glands. Further, POP's cause decreased fertility, immune suppression, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, fatal skin lesions especially in children and nursing infants, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and convulsions

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All of the fatality-producing POP's pose similar health threats. However, each has its own special hazards. Endrin, for example, is four times more toxic than the infamous pesticide DDT. Further, Chlordane, banned in the United States in 1988, suppresses cancer-fighting cells and doubles the rates of lung and brain cancer in exposed individual. As a group, the seven deadly pesticides are known to increase the effects of the other toxic substances. In the ultimate free trade decision, CAFTA'S CODEX ALLOWS THESE CHEMICALS INTO OUR FOOD SUPPLY!

Scientists estimate that the misuse of POP's leads to thousands of excess deaths, millions of disabilities and billions of lost dollars annually.

The seven restricted POP's banned by both the Stockholm Convention and United States law but permitted by CODEX include:

• Hexachlorobenzene

• Aldrin

• Chlordane

• Dieldrin

• Endrin

• Heptachlor

• Mirex

Toxiphene and DDT are the only two POP's pesticides, on the Stockholm POP's prohibited list, which CODEX does not permit. I am deeply concerned about the apparent lack of science-based decision making since excellent alternatives exist to the use of these deadly toxins. Environmentally concerned groups and individuals have raised serious concerns about the reliability of CODEX Alimentarius as a consumer protection agency. Yet, with our passage of CAFTA, CODEX will soon become the law of the land as it relates to what we ingest and our collective exposure to deadly toxins.

Generic medications face new restrictions as well. What do you think will happen when generic medications are harmonized? Will the price go up or down? I think we can both guess the correct answer to that question. Who will benefit? Certainly not the American consumer!

Organizations such as the FDA have given us a relatively safe food supply. However, under CODEX, currently banned pesticides such as the cancer-causing benzenes are allowed. Ask yourself, who benefits from this predatory practice? And under CAFTA, a local nation that bans an approved CODEX substance, product or labor practice is guilty of impeding "free trade" and that nation and its companies are subject to severe sanctions and fines by the World Trade Organization. CODEX is insidious in its ultimate effects on the American public. I want to provide the reader with substantial documentation that will raise the hairs on their collective necks by investigating the following links courtesy of renowned health researcher, John Hammell:

• http://www.usalone.com/cgi-bin/petition.cgi?pnum=112

• http://www.ymlp.com/pubarchive_show_message.php?jham+438

• http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/us/index.html

• http://www.usalone.com/cgi-bin/petition.cgi?pnum=112

John McCain and Ted Kennedy co-sponsored the communitarian-based CAFTA and the subsequent CODEX provisions. Senator McCain rules Arizona with an iron fist. There is no room for dissent with this man. This explains why every Republican legislator, from this State, voted for the closely contested CAFTA despite the fact that every one of these legislators had to have known this legislation would be devastating for a border State. At least one local politician, Arizona State Senator Karen Johnson, understands the politics being played as demonstrated by her open letter to Arizona Capitol Times (08/26/05) where Senator Johnson decried the Arizona Congressional delegation for passing CAFTA under some very shady circumstances.

What is Senator McCain's motivation for this wholesale sellout of America and his seemingly indifference to the health and welfare of American citizens? Simply answer this question; can anyone have a legitimate chance of getting elected to the office of the President without the support and money from the major multinationals that will clearly benefit from the sovereignty snatching, life-threatening provisions of CAFTA? In 2005, Senator McCain sold his Biltmore home for almost five million dollars. However, it is painfully clear that Senator McCain has sold more than his Biltmore home. McCain has sold out every American to the highest campaign bidder.

Most of our families are not raising children who have silver spoons in their collective mouths and who will be properly buffered from the effects of these free trade agreements. My son will have to work for a living. How about your child? Consider the following as you look into your mirror before you go to bed at night; have you done all you can do to help ensure your children's future? Will your child grow up in the same America that you and I were able to enjoy?

My sole purpose for writing this series of articles on the loss of our Constitution is to wake up America before it is too late. Time is short, but we can still retain our way of life. However, we need to act now before it is too late to effect the needed changes in a peaceful manner.

America is a country, not a marketplace! America and her future should not be for sale. Our children are hardworking Americans, not feudal-like serf labor working for their Corporate Lords!

Ultimately, each American must decide if their representatives are really "free traders" or just free enough to be a "traitor" to our traditional American way of life? CAFTA's CODEX is but one example of how our country is being sold to the highest bidder and you and your families are the real losers.