cnn.biker-Terror concerns spark nuke drug sales

A smattering of small businesses selling potassium iodide--an FDA-approved drug that mitigates potential effects from radiation exposure--have witnessed sales of the drug skyrocket over the past few days. News of the U.S. government thwarting a terrorist plot to detonate a "dirty bomb," an explosive that spreads radioactive material, has caused concerned individuals and government agencies to purchase mass quantities of potassium iodide pills off the Internet.

"Since Monday when this dirty bomb scare came about, (sales) increased almost 1000-fold," said Troy Jones, founder of NukePills.com, based in Mooresville, N.C. "Heaven forbid if there's ever a real radiation disaster in this country because one can only imagine a huge reaction to this product."

With the spotlight on terrorism and the U.S. Department of Justice's recent detainment of a suspected Al Qaeda operative who allegedly planned to detonate a dirty bomb in a major city, a cottage industry has formed around the morbid idea of protection against a radioactive attack. Soon after the attacks of Sept. 11, questions over the security of the nation's nuclear power plants also caused a brief surge in drug sales and other equipment to protect against radiation attacks.

Potassium iodide is administered in the form of a pill. The properties of the drug prevent the uptake of radioactive iodine, which causes many forms of cancer, into the thyroid gland. Should the unthinkable happen where a nuclear plant melts down or a nuclear device is detonated, radioactive iodine has a long enough lifespan to spread hundreds of miles in certain weather conditions.

Well i'm not buying them, hope you dont get sold by the marketing for them.

This whole nuclear thing is still really scarry though