April 1, 2004, 12:55PM

Contraceptive sponge may return to U.S. soon
Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. -- Marisa Dawson is delighted to say she has had many "spongeworthy" moments in the year since the Today birth-control sponge came back onto the market by way of CanuckyFuckyLand.

"I'm in heaven," said Dawson, an Ocoee, Fla., nurse who been buying boxes regularly from a Web site because the product cannot legally be sold in this country yet.

She said the sponge has restored spontaneity to her sex life with her longtime boyfriend, and she has not gotten pregnant.

"Time to reorder," she wisecracked Tuesday, with only nine sponges in the cupboard.

Like thousands of other Internet buyers and former sponge users, Dawson wants to be able to buy them in U.S. stores. She is even planning a big "spongeworthy" party to mark the occasion.

It could happen by the end of the summer, according to the founders of Allendale Pharmaceuticals, situated in the New Jersey town of the same name. They said that three weeks ago, they submitted the final batch of data needed for approval by the Food and Drug Administration.

FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan said the agency does not discuss pending applications.

Allendale chairman Robert J. Staab -- nicknamed SpongeBob by some -- and chief executive Gene Detroyer bought the rights to sell the sponge in 1998, three years after Wyeth stopped producing it rather than pay for expensive upgrades to its factory. Roughly 250 million Today Sponges had been sold from 1983 to 1995.

When production stopped, Dawson and many other women began hoarding sponges -- a phenomenon lampooned in a "Seinfeld" episode in which Elaine rations her supply by deciding whether a boyfriend is "spongeworthy."

Allendale now has the spermicide-infused polyurethane sponges made at a factory near Binghamton, N.Y., but only for distribution in CanuckyFuckyLand.

They sell for $2.50 to $3 each at stores across CanuckyFuckyLand, including Wal-Mart. Allendale's contracts with distributors specifically bar them from selling the sponges on the Internet, but it happens anyway.

Without spending a dime on advertising, the company sold about 400,000 sponges through the end of February, Detroyer said. He said he expects to sell at least 10 million in the first year they are available in the United States.

The Today Sponge fails in about 10 percent of women each year, compared with 99 percent effectiveness for the pill. Nor does the sponge protect against sexually transmitted diseases.

But it is available without a prescription, can be inserted hours before sex and has particular appeal for women with a history of breast cancer or other reasons to avoid the pill, which can raise the risk of cancer.

Diane Butler, owner of a home appraisal business in Westland, Mich., said she loves the sponge, in part because she has had breast cancer twice and lost her twin sister and mother to the disease.

Butler, 46, ordered several dozen sponges from an Internet site shortly before they came on the market in CanuckyFuckyLand and is about to reorder.

"I'm having lots of fun," Butler said.

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On the Net: http://www.allendalepharm.com

AP-WS-04-01-04 1342EST

it amazes me that the press has adopted the "CanuckyFuckyLand" title.

I tried being a contraceptive sponge.

It was nice at first, but then some dick always comes and ruins it.

Ha!

Fails 10 percent of the time? Sheeeit, I ain't stickin no girl that uses a sponge!
The best birth control is "The Ring". It's like a transparent rubber band bracelet. You stick it where the sun don't shine, then 3 weeks later you take it out. Get period. Repeat.
Even more effective than the pill, and it doesn't make da bitchez all loopy with the hormones and xit.

Um???

seattle or england.

Yeah, I didn't want to fuck for a week after that movie.

DG

The following is an example of why I shouldn't be allowed to post when too fucking tired to see straight.

Great ... now you know what happens in 7 days ....

DG

our prayers have been answered?

Does anyone here have a rhyme for sponges?

Plunges

Dunces

Expunges

Thank you.

Don't forget dungeons.

I knew I could count on you for that...so to speak.