From the Fredricksburg (Virg) Free Lance Star:
Delegate proposes buying drugs from Canada
A state legislator said Monday he will introduce a bill allowing Virginia to buy inexpensive prescription drugs from Canada, despite a federal ban on imported pharmaceuticals.

Del. Richard H. Black's proposal applies only to state-sponsored medical programs, including those for state employees and retirees. The cities of Montgomery, Ala., and Springfield, Mass., already make Canadian drugs available to their employees, and officials in several other states are considering similar initiatives.

From Fast Company:
Capitalism, Meet Globalism (editorial)
What can any business do? It's no use trying to fight globalization and e-commerce. To compete, just to survive, companies have no choice but to embrace these forces and to accommodate all their nasty side effects.

But wrestling global capitalism into submission--well, that's a bit like asking scientists to hurry up with that dang cure for cancer. Think about the problem this way, though. Don Tapscott, author of The Naked Corporation: How the Age of Transparency Will Revolutionize Business (Free Press, 2003), says that the result of all this new pressure is a forced transparency. Like it or not, your company is buck stinking nekkid, and you better do what you can to look your best.

A good way to start, Tapscott says, is by being honest. In the current business environment, any misdeeds will be found out. Second, demonstrate your goodwill. Pharmaceutical companies, for instance, need to back up their "we care" message by not gouging customers.

From the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser:
City drug initiative may be illegal (editorial)
For much of the time that a national debate has been ongoing over the possibility that cities and states could buy less expensive prescription drugs from Canada for their employees and retirees, Montgomery has been one of two cities nationally doing it.

Under the program, the city orders prescription drugs at much reduced rates -- at least 20 percent, and sometimes as much as 60 percent -- from a Canadian drug company for city employees and retirees who choose to participate. Springfield, Mass., has a similar program, and other cities and at least two states are pushing for the right to implement plans.

It's hard to know whether the public should be applauding Montgomery officials for their initiative or chiding them for breaking the law.