From the Editor

Earlier this year it was reported that the Federal Government was proposing to establish something called the Institute of Comprehensive Medicine in Hamilton. If the purpose of this will be to evaluate the various drugs of plant and animal origin that are appearing in increasing numbers on the shelves of supermarkets it will clearly be useful.

However it seems that it will also be devoted to everything from ancient quackery to the latest New Age nonsense. At a time when all levels of government have been reducing the funds available for medical treatments of established efficacy to the point where lives may be endangered, to

squander resources on such dubious practices seems to me irresponsible in the extreme. From a wider perspective, this represents an instance of an increasing tendency to reject reason and science in favour of superstition and general looniness, which I find deeply disturbing. Does anyone else in Science for Peace share my concern about this? Is this a matter in which we should become involved?

Best wishes to everyone for happy holidays, and an auspicious beginning to the new year, the new century and the new millennium.