Prescription drugs and how to combat their rising costs are on the minds of voters, and the Penobscot Indian Nation may be trying to use that to its advantage.

Congressional negotiators are trying to hammer out a $400 billion prescription drug benefit for Medicare. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is considering the purchase of drugs from Canada for 240,000 state employees and retirees. A similar plan in Springfield, Mass., encourages the city’s 9,000 retirees and workers to join a Canadian purchase plan and projects savings between $4 million and $9 million a year.

In Maine, the Penobscots, along with the Maine Council of Senior Citizens, have their own plan to import prescription drugs from Canada and pass the savings on to consumers. The alliance is seeking federal funding for a safety study on importing the medicine and has already attracted support from Sen. Olympia Snowe. The University of Maine would help conduct the study.

In humor and politics, timing is everything. We question the timing of Monday’s announcement by the tribe. Lest we forget, there is an election Nov. 4. Prescription drugs are not on the ballot, but a proposal to allow the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes to build a casino is.

Penobscot Chief Barry Dana says the initiative has nothing to do with the casino issue. But certainly, the good publicity and a partnership with a prominent seniors’ group does not hurt the tribes’ efforts to build a positive image among voters in time for Election Day.

The Maine Council of Senior Citizens has organized annual bus trips into Canada so participants can take advantage of the country’s lower drug prices. On one trip, the group says, 20 Maine seniors saved about $19,000.

Canada’s national health care system negotiates prices with drug companies and sets caps on what can be charged. In addition, the favorable exchange rate makes buying drugs there more affordable for Americans. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services opposes such importation, arguing that the Food and Drug Administration cannot guarantee the safety of drugs purchased outside the United States.

Under the plan proposed Monday, the Penobscots would buy prescriptions in bulk from Canadian wholesalers and bring them to a large warehouse on Indian Island. From there, the medicine would be distributed to pharmacies around the state.

Canadian prices would be available at America stores with no long bus trips or pesky border agents. That sounds pretty good, although it is unlikely the federal government would approve such a system or that drug companies would tolerate the drive to cut profits.

Something needs to be done to control the runaway costs of prescription drugs. We support efforts to find innovative solutions to this problem, and the $200,000 grant the tribe seeks is a good investment. However, we can’t help but think that Monday’s announcement has as much to do with bringing a casino to Maine as it does with importing prescription drugs from Canada.

The tribes say they are working on tax relief, school funding and now prescription drugs. Good deeds can translate into goodwill, but a healthy dose of election-year skepticism is in order.
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