The Most Dangerous Chemical On The Market Cuts A Woman's Cancer Risk By 12%. Which Makes Me Very Optimistic Regarding The Least Dangerous Chemical.

So now it's official. Lloyd DuPlantis of Gray, Louisiana, the pharmacist who got on national radio and told the world he refused to dispense oral contraceptives "in the name of science" has been scientifically proven to be full of shit. You can listen here to Lloyd tell us his decision was about nothing but science. He comes on around the 13 minute mark. Around 16:30 he says oral contraceptives are "the most dangerous chemicals that have ever been put on the market." Lloyd made God so mad when he said this that God sent a hurricane to Louisiana to try and wipe Lloyd out. Unfortunately God missed. If God had been on target though, it would have spared Lloyd a lifetime of humiliation. To the Sept 12th UK Guardian:

The contraceptive pill actually protects women against cancer in later life, according to the largest study ever set up to evaluate the risks and benefits.

The pill, which has been a source of controversy since it was introduced in the 1960s, is today revealed to have an overall net benefit for the women who take it. Researchers who have followed 46,000 women taking the pill - beginning in 1968 - say that it cuts the individual's risk of cancer of any kind by up to 12%.

Um, maybe it's just me, but this doesn't sound like the most dangerous chemical on the market. Honestly, I really don't think a scientist would have to look very hard to find something more dangerous. A religious crackpot with an ulterior motive might not be able to come up with something more dangerous, but not a scientist.

"Drugmonkey I'm not gonna let you blow smoke up my ass" I can hear some of you saying. "I know damn well Oral Contraceptives raise a woman's risk of breast cancer. You're wrong! Lloyd DuPlantis of Gray, Louisiana is a scientist!"

You would be right about the breast cancer. Back to the Guardian:

It is accepted that the pill raises the risk of breast cancer while a woman is taking it and for about five years afterwards. But the real benefits kick in 15 years or more after she has stopped. Most women go on the pill in their late teens or early twenties and have given up by their late twenties.

.....women who were once on the pill - as long as they did not take it for more than eight years, and most do not - are no more likely to get breast cancer than others. And they are significantly less likely to suffer from certain other cancers, in particular ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer, which affects the lining of the womb. They are also better protected from bowel cancer.

I'll translate this for you. Women do have a higher risk of breast cancer while they are taking the pill. This risk vanishes by the time they have been off the pill for five years. How many 20 somethings do you know who are battling breast cancer? Exactly. The pill raises these women's breast cancer risk from incredibly small, to slightly more than incredibly small.

But the protection from other types of cancer is permanent. You can be an 80 year old hag, but if you took oral contraceptives back when you were penis hunting in your 20's, your chances of dying of cancer are lower.

Lloyd DuPlantis of Gray, Louisiana is not a scientist. We now have scientific proof.

The lesson to be learned here is to be true to what you are. If Lloyd Duplantis of Gray, Louisiana had just been honest back in 2005, if he had just admitted he was a Christian fundamentalist trying to impose his beliefs on us all through his professional practice, he would look less foolish today. Because now he has to take back everything he said back then. He has to tell everyone he knows that he was either wrong or he was a liar.

Be true to yourself. If you're a religious fascist, just admit it. At least then you can have some self respect.