Today I ripped out fifteen pages of ads for medication and/or drugs from the latest issue of Family Circle magazine! This is a practice that I've become quite used to doing every time I open a magazine--any magazine. I ask you, since when is it OK for somebody without the appropriate professional training and expertise to determine the type of medication needed for a specific illness or condition? Why are drug companies allowed to unabatedly push their products to the general populace who is generally ignorant in these matters? I believe the law should prohibit this practice, particularly since these ads are being shown indiscriminately in publications, television and other public media to people who are likely to become impressed by the promises of well-being and health (but who are not likely to read the fine print and to realize how dangerous a drug can be if not taken properly, or in combination with other medications). After the constant onslaught of these TV and magazine commercials, I've become so disgusted and frustrated, that I'm appealing to you, the decision-makers, to stop this madness. Let the drug companies publish their intrusive ads in publications suited for medical professionals, and not the regular housewife, teenager, grandparent, teacher, etc. who may be beset by some type of medical condition, but who has no business self-medicating (or demanding of their healthcare provider a prescription for such).