33. Eliminate Laws Keeping Pharmaceutical Prices High
and Prohibiting Restrictions on Foreign Purchases

WHEREAS drug prices in the United States have risen to exorbitant levels, causing many citizens and especially those on a fixed income of being unable to purchase needed drugs;

WHEREAS it has become common for drug companies to enter into agreements with generic drug producers to refrain from putting cheap generic drugs on the market;

WHEREAS such agreements are clearly in restraint of trade and provide drug companies with virtual monopolies on certain drugs; and

WHEREAS American consumers are being forced to purchase expensive brand name drugs because the generic versions are unavailable;

WHEREAS in many cases good quality drugs are available for purchase in Canada, Mexico and other foreign countries at much lower prices than may be found within the United States; and

WHEREAS the U.S. Federal Government has made the purchase and importation of drugs from foreign countries illegal; and

WHEREAS the U.S. Federal Government has been searching and seizing drugs from those crossing into the United States from foreign countries;

WHEREAS such laws benefit only the drug companies whose lobbyists were successful in getting such laws passed;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Maui Democratic Party asks the Hawai`iState Democratic Party and our Hawai`i legislators to work to outlaw agreements which deprive consumers of access to cheap, generic drugs and to give consumers standing to sue drug companies whose agreements or actions result in the suppression of generic versions of drugs from the market; and

BE IT RESOLVED that the Maui Democratic Party calls on the Hawai`i State Democratic Party and our Hawai`i legislators to work to repeal all restrictions on the importation of legal drugs into the United States and to reimburse all those who have had drugs seized from them since importation was made illegal.