Researchers: time to take your Soma

[2046]

Anyone remember in the Aldous Huxley novel Brave New World, where the government uses a fictional drug called "Soma" to pacify the population? Well, some Japanese researchers are taking inspiration from water flouridation which already is mandated in the US and Western Europe and suggesting that lithium be added to the water supply to "change the mood, in a positive way" with the goal of "reducing suicides."

A reporter from a Minneapolis Fox affiliate reports on this "very interesting idea:"

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/buzz/ge...ecember-16-2009

[D'kian]

It's time, then, to begin work on a cheap and efficient way for removing lithium from water. You'd need more than a simple filter, though. Something not too unlike the osmosis membranes used in desalination plants, plus a pump or a gravity feed to achieve the needed water presure for osmosis. You'll probably wind up with a tank of lithium free drinking water (no need to remove lithium from water used in the shower and toilet, though it might spare you plumbing rearrangements if you did).

I'm serious. Governments ahve added fluorine to the water supply, as an aid to rpevent tooth decay. That's mostly harmless, of course, but for a few rare exceptions (and the fact that fluorine is most effective when applied topically to the teeth). But in the US where some municipalities already had natural levels of fluorine comparable to those of places where it was added, the local governments simply mandated a higher fluorine level to justify meddling.

So, yes, I can see a "lithium-flavored" water supply.

Edited to add:

BTW in his follow-on book to Brave New World, Brave New World Revisited, Mr. Huxley looks at real world developments and how they relate to his warnings and predictions. He speculates on future developments, too. Regarding Soma, he decides such a drug is highly unlikely. He must be spinning faster in his grave by now.

Edited December 25, 2009 by D'kian

[RussK]

I thought our water supplies were already under threat of being heavily contaminated by mind-altering, prescription drugs through pollution. Seems like a waste of government money to go ahead with such a plan when they could just wait a few years.

What happens when this lithium interacts with my other crazy meds?

Edited December 25, 2009 by RussK

[flatlander]

I find it interesting, and more than a little disturbing, that stories like this one emerge in the media at the same time the ecofascists are ramping up their campaign against bottled water.

[SuperMetroid]

Governments ahve added fluorine to the water supply, as an aid to rpevent tooth decay. That's mostly harmless, of course, but for a few rare exceptions

Fluoridation of the water supply is not harmless. It's a toxic chemical that has a proven link to lowering cognitive ability, similarly to lead. The fact that it's been placed in the water supply is just an excuse for chemical companies to sell something that would otherwise be considered a toxic byproduct, which would cost them money to dispose of.

As for the actual topic, I am not surprised. The governments of most countries seems to think it's their right to tinker with the masses in any way they please. It's sickening.

Edited January 7, 2010 by SuperMetroid