Surrounded by senior citizens and a couple of pharmacists, Jim DeMint called for the U.S. Senate to pass a bill he co-sponsored in the House. It would allow individuals, pharmacists and doctors to import prescription drugs from other countries.

"It's not fair to Americans to ask us as taxpayers and as buyers of prescriptions to subsidize the socialized economies in Canada and other places in the world," DeMint said. "Our own prescription drug companies are selling prescriptions that are made here to Canada and to European countries for half, or sometimes even a third, of what they charge Americans."

Doug Lail thinks it's a good idea to let people buy their medicine wherever it's cheapest. He's on nine prescription drugs. "I've had four bypass surgeries, and two more heart attacks. So as things progress along, they keep giving you more medicine," he says.

He says he's lucky that his prescriptions are affordable, thanks to good health insurance. He thinks it's wrong that prescriptions cost so much more here than in other countries.

"Mostly I shake my head and wonder, why? Why can't we get drugs as cheap as Canadians?" He doesn't know, despite the fact that he's a retired pharmaceutical salesman.

DeMint brought up the issue as part of his campaign for U.S. Senate, saying he would work to pass the bill if elected, since it passed the House and died in the Senate before.

But it's not an issue where there's a contrast with his opponent, Democrat Inez Tenenbaum. Her spokeswoman says Tenenbaum is definitely in favor of finding ways to make prescription drugs more affordable, and thinks it's outrageous that seniors in South Carolina have to pay more than seniors in Canada for the same drugs.

The Food and Drug Administration is against importing prescription drugs from other countries, saying it's dangerous because those countries may not have the same quality control standards.

DeMint says it's hard to keep a straight face hearing that, since many of those drugs were made here in the first place. They're cheaper in Canada and other countries because those countries put price controls on prescriptions.

And he says we also import food and drinks from other countries without problems.

Pharmaceutical companies argue that the price controls keep prices artificially low in those countries, and they need the profits they make here for research and development of new medicines.