--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "do.rflex" <do.rf...@...> wrote: > > I've been trying to post an article on Scientology in France > being on trial for fraud. Yahoo keeps saying it didn't work. > > Anyway it's from the Independent [UK] > > Here's the link in Tinyurl: http://tinyurl.com/ok626a > > and Snipurl: http://snipurl.com/iqn7f
Interesting that they would go after them as "illegal pharmacists." But it's very possible there, because in France (as in much of the rest of Europe) sales and dispensing of vitamins as you know it in the US are unheard of. Given what I've heard of Scientology, they probably "prescribe" megadoses of vitamins, which pretty much means that they have to import them illegally from other countries. Most vitamins in France are sold only in pharmacies, and only in small dosages and small bottles. Hell, you can't buy a "bottle of aspirin" in France the way you can in the US; the largest sized box of aspirin you would be able to find would contain 20 tablets. And you would never be able to find even that tiny box of 20 except at a pharmacy. Most vitamins are the same. It was common among French I knew who were into vitamins as therapy (or for bodybuilding or sports) to take periodic "buying trips" to Germany, where they were sold similarly to the way they are in the US. To some extent, this is the result more of protectionism on the part of the French than an anti-vitamin stance. The French are very good at creating "protection zones" around powerful interest groups who have lobbied the government to do so, such as doctors, pharmacists, and even tobacconists. These groups are basically "guaranteed the con- cession," a veritable monopoly on the product or service in question. In France, for example, no one can legally practice acupuncture or acupressure or homeopathy or naturopathy without being a licensed M.D. or in the direct employ of one, who is expected to "supervise" -- for a profit, of course. The sales of vitamins are similarly restricted in Spain, and it's pretty much impossible to find large dosages or large quantities of them if you're into that sorta thing. Since I'm not, it doesn't impact me at all. On the other hand, Spain sells many drugs "over the counter" in pharmacies without a prescrip- tion, such as antibiotics, antivirals, and other common drugs that you would need to go to a doctor in the US or France and have pre- scribed for you...again, at a profit. So everywhere has its own way of doing things. Fascinating that Scientology may have brought itself down in France by paying no heed to something they probably thought was a silly law that they didn't have to pay attention to. It conjures up memories of gangsters like Al Capone finally being put away not for murder- ing dozens of people -- which they did -- but for tax evasion. "God is in the details," they say. If Scien- tology bites the dust in France, I guess they will have to extend that to "Religion is also in the details."
