Reuters reports that the Health Minister of Canada is seeking initiatives, including legislative and regulatory changes, to limit the amount of drugs being sold to America consumers. He claims this is needed to protect Canadian citizens from low supplies.

Of course, part of the reason this is being sought is because Canada's economy is tiny, and is not doing very well. Hence, the government cannot buy enough drugs from the United States.

That's right, Canada gets its drugs from American drug manufacturers. They depend on us for their supplies, and yet, are seeking to stop their own pharmacies from selling to Americans. The reason why Canadian pharmacies can sell drugs at such low prices is because for one, they buy them in massive bulk quantities, and two, the Canadian government controls the pricing of all drugs. It's not so much that drug manufactuers are jacking up the price on Americans, it's that Canada distributes them at such low prices.

A very good article on this subject was written by Russell Roberts, entitled, "The High Price of Cheap Drugs", that discusses this quirky flow of pharmaceuticals that originate the United States, leave the country, and end up back in the States. Roberts says:

Knowing that Canadian purchases of drugs will end up in America, the pharmaceutical companies will change their behavior. One obvious change is to limit the volume of drugs they sell to Canadians. But the Canadian government will have to change its behavior as well. If the Canadian government does nothing and keeps price controls at their current levels, Canadian wholesalers and retailers will prefer to sell drugs to Americans at higher prices rather than to Canadians at lower prices. Canadians will have trouble buying drugs in their own country.

Looks like Roberts has just about predicted the future.