Did you know that at the end of this month, the EU will impose a new approval process for herbal medicines, natural supplements and therapeutic preparations? This means that every supplier of such goods will have to re-prove the safety of their products, many of which have been used for thousands of years, generating studies and reports at their own expense which is estimated to come to at least £80,000 PER PRODUCT.
Sound familiar? Anyone that follows this blog will recall my rant about Armillatox, a totally natural biodegradable garden soap which is no longer licensed for the very uses for which it's most needed, due to a similar EU directive back in 2003. At the same time around 80 other garden brands disappeared from our shelves forever.
It is expected that this ruling will put many small companies supplying natural remedies right out of business, and remove certain herbs (including ALL Chinese and Indian medicines) from the European market completely.
Now I'm not here for a discussion on the safety/danger/effectiveness of alternative medicines (nor to slag off the pharmaceutical giants that no doubt had something to do with this directive. Ahem.) But I can't sit back and ignore efforts to take that choice away. Modern medicines are artificially manufactured chemicals with dangers and side-effects of their own. Why ban the natural option? Plenty of people swear by alternative medicines, some claim they owe them their lives, some say they couldn't face life without them. These plants have been used for health reasons as long as humans have walked the earth, and no-one's taking away my right to choose them if I see fit.
So I went here and signed this petition, and I urge you to do the same.
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