#StopFakeMeds #ThinkSmart
Don’t fall for the seductive promises of the death pharmaceuticals dealers: “It’s cheaper,” “It’s easy to get,” “It still works.”
Fake medicines sellers use 3 powerful emotional levers to influence us: despair – denial – shame.
1/ Despair is the weapon to sell.
It’s a powerful control tool. We’ll do anything for less pain, to heal or to care for our suffering loved ones, without knowing that the drugs we buy will kill us!
2/ Denial is the weapon of sleep.
We use denial as a refuge: we look for savings; we prefer to convince ourselves that “it will work”; we prefer to believe the seller or the website rather than activate our vigilance.
Traffickers and sellers claim that they wouldn’t sell these drugs if they were dangerous; that it’s just an unauthorized product; or that we can’t afford an original drug.
3/ Shame is the weapon of silence.
Shame is twofold. The first shame is about our bodies. We are influenced by the incessant algorithms of social networks to buy such and such a product, to lose weight, to have such and such musculature, skin type, hair.
For example, platforms like TikTok or Instagram show that the people “like” the most are often slim, young, sexualized bodies / spectacular body transformations / miracle tips for losing 5kg in 3 days.
We try to deal with all this alone, because the doctor will think we’re obsessed with our image. We buy medical products outside the legal channels and put our lives at risk.
Then comes the second shame, that of feeling guilty: we don’t dare say that we’ve bought medical products outside the legal channels, so we keep quiet and isolate ourselves. But we’re not guilty; we are victims of criminals, and we can die as a result!
Michelle Sword, a 46-year-old mother, was almost killed by a fake weight-loss product. She had the courage to share her story to help others! bbc.com/news/articles/c4g4r4251p3o
Francisco Lopez Reyes, a.k.a. “Frank”, took advantage of the situation to set up an international trafficking operation for counterfeit drugs containing fentanyl in the heart of New York. justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/us-attorney-announces-charges-ag…
Let’s break out of our habits.
Let’s get away from our certainty that medication equals quality and efficiency.
Let’s be vigilant. Fake Medicines: Let’s talk about it!
