AFFORDABLE PRESCRIPTION DRUGS—CoPIRG State Director Rex Wilmouth talks with Reps. John Witwer and Alice Madden about the Fair Drug Buying Act, a proposed prescription drug buying pool to lower costs for Colorado’s uninsured and underinsured. The legislation passed through the state Legislature, but was vetoed by the governor.

Gov. Vetoes Affordable Prescription Drugs Bill

Gov. Bill Owens recently vetoed legislation that would have formed prescription drug buying pools to lower costs for government agencies, the uninsured and other consumers and businesses. This plan would allow Coloradans who lack prescription drug coverage to benefit from bulk buying of prescription drugs.

CoPIRG recently released “Paying the Price,” a report which found that the amount uninsured and underinsured Coloradans were paying for prescription drugs had increased to 77 percent more than what the federal government pays for the 12 most commonly prescribed medications.

“HMOs and the federal government use their buying power to negotiate fairer prices for the drugs they purchase,” said Rex Wilmouth, CoPIRG state director.

“Unfortunately, uninsured consumers have no one doing the same on their behalf, so drug companies are making money hand-over-fist, profiting the most from chronicallyill Coloradans without prescription drug coverage.”

New Report Warns Parents About Unsafe Toys

Hazardous toys can still be found in local stores, according to CoPIRG’s annual toy safety survey.

“Trouble in Toyland,” available at www.toysafety.net, offers safety guidelines for purchasing toys for small children and provides examples of toys currently on store shelves that pose potential safety hazards.

The research focused on four categories of toy dangers: toys that pose choking hazards, toys that are dangerously loud, toys that contain toxic chemicals, and toys that pose strangulation hazards.

In 2003, more than 200,000 people sought treatment in hospital emergency rooms for toy-related injuries; more than a third of those injured were under five years of age. According to the most recent data, 11 children under the age of 15 died from toy-related injuries in 2003.

“Even one toy-related death is too many, because these deaths are preventable,” said Benjamin Davis, CoPIRG consumer advocate.

CoPIRG’s reports have led to more than 120 Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalls and other enforcement actions. The CPSC took action on 17 toys identified in the 2003 CoPIRG report.

New Voters Project Increases Participation

Over the past year, CoPIRG’s New Voters Project built a wide-ranging, bipartisan coalition of businesses, nonprofits and elected officials in support of our work to register 18- 24 year-old voters. By the project’s end, CoPIRG had registered 72,000 young voters.

Supporters included Mayor John Hickenlooper, Secretary of State Donetta Davidson, former House Speaker Lola Spradley and Sen. Joan Fitz-Gerald.

Nearly 100 local businesses participated in voter registration events, including Wells Fargo, which ran a registration program in all 140 of their branch offices.

The majority of the work happened through the academic system, which allowed us to set up programs that will continue through those institutions into the future.

“The strength of a democracy is measured by the participation of its citizens, especially its younger citizens,” said the New Voters Project’s Ivan Frishberg.

“Our country will be better off when young people develop the habits of voting and engaged citizenship.”