Naming Operations
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 6:24 PM

The FDA and the DEA are teaming up to combat the illegal sales of
prescription narcotics over the Internet, according to this article
(registration required) in the NY Times on Saturday, October 18.
"And for the first time, regulators are hinting that those who order
the drugs may face prosecution."

But this post isn't to examine the merits of the crackdown, or the
prescription system more generally. I want to focus on the name of
the new initiative: Operation Gray Lord. This apt moniker should bring
a little flutter of nostalgia into the hearts of Chicagoans. In the early to
mid-1980s, corruption in the Cook County Court System was unearthed
by a federal sting operation named....Operation Greylord. Some 15 judges,
more than three times that number of attorneys, and others working in
the justice system were convicted under Greylord auspices. Eminence
grise, indeed.

In the overall naming competition, however, I am afraid that Operation Gray Lord
cannot match the coca-plant eradication effort in Colombia: Operation Holocaust.

Labels: prescription drugs