For years, pharmaceutical companies have been progressively prohibited from giving gifts in the form of trips, payments, meals and even pens and trinkets in the fear that it may unduly influence a physician's prescribing habits.
Unfortunately, no such law exists to prohibit politicians from obtaining similar inducements from lobbyists. Over 3.3 billion was spent on influencing politicians on a national level in 2011 alone.
By prohibiting the use of gifts, trips, meals, drinks, etc, we can rely that politicians are not swayed by the influence that comes with these small gifts.