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NYT: North Carolina blogger fights state requirement that he be licensed to give nutrition advice
FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES:

Steve Cooksey eats what he calls a cave man diet — lots of meat and greens, no bread or pasta. He says it has helped him conquer life-threatening diabetes.

But when he wrote about his experiences and offered advice on his Web site, officials in North Carolina said he was breaking the law by “providing nutrition care services without a license.” ...

a North Carolina law says that “assessing the nutritional needs of individuals and groups” without a license is a crime. Many other states license nutritionists and dietitians, but the North Carolina law seems to be among the stricter ones. ...


Mr. Cooksey ... filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in Charlotte, N.C., saying his First Amendment rights had been violated. ..

Mr. Cooksey is represented by the Institute for Justice, a libertarian group that often takes issue with employment licensing laws, usually on the ground that they interfere with economic competition. In Mr. Cooksey’s case, it also argues that the North Carolina law interferes with the marketplace of ideas. ...
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End Government Licensing
http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=15763
“If we want a market with ample information, high-quality products, and freedom of competition, government licensing is an impediment that must be abolished across the board.”

It’s Time to End Occupational Licensure
http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/blog/index.php/2012/05/its-time-to-end-occupational-licensure/
“The economic cost is incalculable. Licensure restricts the supply of workers in the occupations affected, stifling innovation and entrepreneurship, suppressing competition, and driving up prices.”
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timothypeck's avatar

timothypeck

Aug 20, 2012
at 10:09 AM


How Big Government and Big Business Squeeze Entrepreneurs
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444184704577588872840133362.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
“Standing in their way are regulations imposed at the federal, state and local levels—regulations designed not to protect the public’s health and safety but to protect politically powerful private businesses from new competition.”
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timothypeck's avatar

timothypeck

Aug 20, 2012
at 10:31 AM


You could not be more right, Tim.  I too yearn for the days of patent medicine—especially the “radium water” cures or the opium or laudanum “infant soothers.”

There is a reason for licenses and standards.  Before we had them, people died. 

End of discussion.

hauntedheadnc

Aug 20, 2012
at 01:45 PM


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