Little blue pill emerges as big seller in Baghdad - Viagra in demand

[Kadie]

Little blue pill emerges as big seller in Baghdad
Viagra in demand as desire for sex declines amid war

Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times
Saturday, June 19, 2004

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Baghdad -- Life is violent, minds are frayed, and the little blue pill is selling big on Sadoon Street.

"People are depressed, so they need Viagra and other drugs to give them interest in sex," said Talid Abdul-Amir Shebany, a pharmacist who tracks the changing ailments of Iraqis in a worn ledger on his desk. "Viagra sales have at least doubled since the war ended. Lives are not good. There's bombs and tension. When you see bodies and destroyed houses, you have psychological disturbances that affect sexual desire."

Emotional demons and persistent stress have disturbed the rhythm of life, from eating to having sex to strolling along the Tigris. But a burgeoning black market in medicines and increased freedom of expression have allowed Iraqis to experiment with pills and remedies to fix what has gone wrong.

Viagra and its copycats -- Kamagra from India, Novagra from Britain and Vega from Syria -- have been available for several years, but importation was limited, taxed and heavily regulated by the former Iraqi Health Ministry.


more... http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/06/19/MNGQJ78Q021.DTL

[AP]

1. Hey, doesn't Bob Dole sell viagra? Republicans are making money in

Baghdad for their friends, aren't they?

[Vladimir]

33. And the Noam Chomsky award for

spotting a war profiteer goes to... :)

[amandabeech]

2. It sounds like they could use a little Prozac as well.

If there are any psychiatrists in Iraq, they must be doing a big business. There were reports about PTSD after the attack on the WTC, so I would imagein that there is quite a lot around Baghdad as well.

[LittleApple81]

3. Poor Iraqi women... f*cked everytime and all the time!!!!

[chelsea0011]

4. Is the cost cheaper?

I need a refill.

[Born Free]

17. MY guess is Americans are paying for the pills

If they refuse to pay more than 10 cents for a gallon of gas, why would you think they would be willing to pay more than a few cents for Viagra. We'll read about paying millions in tax payer money so the Iraqi men can drive their big cars and rape their woman- wow what a great time! Don't worry about it though because here in America the seniors can get pretty good cat food, they really don't need the millions we are paying to keep the Irai men happy.

[chimpy the poopthrower]

37. jumping to a lot of conclusions, aren't you?

Are you aware that Iraq was one of the most progressive countries in the ME in terms of women's rights?

[daa]

5. Are they allowed to have sex there? nt

[Skittles]

7. the men are

nt

[Skittles]

6. I feel sorry for the Iraqi women

they have so much going on without the men running around with chemically-induced erections.

[LittleApple81]

8. You can see how women think... I had a reaction similar to yours!

[skooooo]

11. Yep..same here. More crap to put up with from men...

[Wright Patman]

9. This is not the kind of erection

promised by the Coalition Provisional Authority.

As my pro-* friends say, "We are erecting all kinds of projects over there. The media just won't report it."

[donsu]

10. with all the grief and sorrow and constant nervous fear in the women

sex would be infrequent.

men live on another plane.

[skooooo]

12. ..and your point is..?

not sure i get it

[GingerSnaps]

13. I had a friend who took Viagra and it didn't work

He didn't like the lady that he was with and he just couldn't get it up after taking Viagra. I suppose if you think the person is ugly Viagra isn't going to work.

[1monster]

14. So, why, if he didn't like her, was he even considering ...

ah, nevermind. :eyes:

[testing123]

16. Booze might have been a better alternative

:beer:

What does he look like?

[jmowreader]

18. It says right in the package insert

that this shit doesn't make you horny. The horniness, as a mental state, has to exist in the Viagra user before the pill will make your dick hard.

If your pecker doesn't like what it sees, Viagra won't change its mind.

[GingerSnaps]

19. He told me that she was one of the ugliest women that he has laid eyes on

The description that he gave made her sound like she was so ugly that dogs would run from her.

[chimpy the poopthrower]

38. Better to be ugly on the outside...

...than ugly on the inside. Sorry, but your friend sounds like a complete jerk.

[testing123]

21. That's why alcohol is better then Viagra

It's impares your vision.

[ElectroPrincess]

22. What a special way with words ...

Da pecker says, "No way boss! I ain't goin' in there." <snicker>

[testing123]

23. Since he was so blunt

It's making me very curious about what he looks like.

[ElectroPrincess]

24. What about another brand?

Hey I've heard these (phonetic spelling) Cee-Alice commercials warn of 4 hour (FOUR HOUR!?!) long erections. ROTFLMAO

Damn, I know only women would find this negative side effect insanely hilarious. BwwwwAAAHHHH! It gives me the impression that "this stuff" would do the trick for your buddy? <splitting a gut with laughter>

[jmowreader]

28. In the Cialis package insert...

it claims the product was "not tested for multiple attempts on one dose." I can't imagine why not.

Okay, check this shit out. This is a product that's designed as a "plan-ahead" pill. Let's say you're getting ready for an evening which will culminate in sexual congress. (These pills are too expensive to waste on nights your wife might have a headache.) You shine your shoes, put on your suit, comb your hair and take a Cialis tablet. Four hours from now, sexual congress does occur. At this point, assuming said activity requires one hour, you've still got 31 hours left on your Cialis. You're gonna tell me none of the testers' wives asked, "can we do that again?".

You're going to tell me none of the men thought to themselves, "let's see how many times I can get it up in the next day and a half."

You're also going to tell me none of the principal investigators cared about how many times one tablet would produce a functional erection.

And I won't believe a word of it.

Because I know my wife. She's no sex fiend, to be sure, but if I walked in the house with a bottle of Cialis and took one, the first words out of her mouth would be on the order of "you're not going anywhere until I get my money's worth."'

[ElectroPrincess]

29. As well she should ... I can hear her now "get back here dammit!" : P

[THUNDER HANDS]

15. there would be a lot less violence in the world

If people were fucking instead of fighting.

I'm sure someone more famous than me said something similar to that at one point in time.

[skooooo]

20. ..assuming everyone has a choice in the matter..

....and everyone has whatever form of birth control suits them. Some how, I don't think this describes the situation of most women in the middle east.

[tinanator]

25. Free at last!

Sort of makes you want to feel warm and fuzzy insides

[TryingToWarnYou]

26. Any going to Abu Gharib? Lets hope not...

NT

[MrTriumph]

27. Forget looking for WMD!!

Perhaps Bush can pacify Iraq by confiscating Viagra.

[Columbia]

30. They need them because Iraqi women are usually not very good looking

They pretty much do all the manual labor while the men sit around, drink tea, and smoke hooka. The women age very quickly and are not real easy on the eyes. The men probably need the Viagra just to jump-start the mood.

[tinanator]

32. thats really disgusting

shame on ya.

[Columbia]

34. For what?

[tinanator]

35. racism, sexism all the usual suspects

nice example.

[Columbia]

36. Have you ever been to Iraq?

[Just Me]

31. Let's make things even worse,...n/t