Prozac. The drug of choice for the 1990s. Prozac to me is singularly frightening. It is reminiscent of the soma of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, one of my favorite novels. It is singularly ironic that marijuana is illegal but Prozac is legal and actively promoted. Prozac is a chemical designed to make people fit into an impossible lifestyle. It mellows individuals out so that they avoid rather than deal with the issues that need to be changed. (It is similar to therapy in that respect: the role of therapists and shrinks is to help individuals accommodate themselves to society; it is therefore natural that psychiatrists prescribe Prozac for their patients.)
This photo was shot in July 1997 on one of the main streets in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic. The DR is an unlikely locale to sell Prozac in that Dominicans are about as mellow as they come!
However, it is not unusual for prescription drugs in the "third world" to be sold over the counter. Pharmaceuticals banned in the West, owing to side effects, are also routinely dumped on the world's poorest nations.
A Dominican is unlikely to be able to afford to visit a shrink, but he or she can be susceptible to advertising. Ignorance is bliss as far as multinational marketing is concerned!
The sign reads: "Prozac. Ten Years. Nights Restful. Days Productive."
| Did you know? In 1996, Business Week reported that Eli Lilly's sales of Prozac sales surged 24% in 1995 to just over $2 billion. In-force prescriptions have soared 65.4%--from 10.9 million in late 1992 to over 18 million by the end of 1995. Disturbing! |
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