OT: LOSING THE WAR ON DRUGS
As usual.
Pseudoephedrine found in decongestants is easily converted to methamphetamine. Several states, using methods that have failed time and time again, have made it increasingly difficult to purchase the drug. Many places the pills are behind the counter and you have to show a driver’s license (which is recorded in some database) in order to buy them. Did it help in the War on Drugs? Not a bit, according to the NYT, as imported crystal meth has taken the place of the home-cooked version.
Net effect– A bunch of inconvenienced consumers and a loss of privacy. It really is so predictable that you just have to wonder– Bug or Feature?
7 Responses to “OT: LOSING THE WAR ON DRUGS”
 Comment by Jason January 23rd, 2006 at 3:59 pm |
Yep, same old story. Legislators try to modify socially aberrant behavior by making More Pointless Laws. The problem with using the law as a social control measure is that the people who suffer most are those who are least likely to break the law in the first place. Same with gun laws. |
 Comment by Andrea R. in Missouri January 23rd, 2006 at 5:27 pm |
And I can no longer comparison shop easily when buying decongestants. Instead I have to be ready to ask the pharmacist for exactly what I want. I’m sure it’s costing me money as I’d likely buy a store brand or off brand if I could look at the boxes and prices lined up in front of me. Instead I just ask for a box of Sudafed because it’s the name brand I know. |
 Comment by Rikki January 23rd, 2006 at 9:39 pm |
Pseudoephedrine makes me all wonky, so I don’t ever take anything with that ingredient. I knew products containing it were being held hostage now, but I haven’t seen any empty shelves or missing brand names. I wonder if they are replacing some of the ingredients and keeping some names on the shelf as ‘new and improved’? |
 Comment by Lioness January 23rd, 2006 at 10:58 pm |
Feature. The Big Question I’ve never heard anyone ask is, “Why are so many Americans going to such extreme lengths to self-medicate? It couldn’t POSSIBLY be something in their environment making them sick, now could it? |
 Comment by Ulrike January 24th, 2006 at 12:22 am |
Walgreens here has cards with a description of the drug (ingredients, etc) hanging on the wall, and you just grab a card and take it to the pharmacy (and stand in line) to get exactly what you want. However, still buy it online if I can help it. The law change has reduced the number of people manufacturing Meth in Iowa, which is a good thing, simply because meth is so dangerous to make. (Or so they say.) |
 Comment by Daryl Cobranchi January 24th, 2006 at 4:57 am |
Just another bit of misinformation to keep the sheeple scared. Cookers a decade ago regularly used syntheses that involved highly flammable solvents. These days the most dangerous reagent is drain cleaner. Somewhere in my archives is a desription of the “recipe.” |
 Comment by Ryan January 24th, 2006 at 8:44 am |
I agree with Jason — legislators are just trying to solve the symptom. Furthermore, I suspect that meth producers would need boxes and boxes of pills in order to produce anything substantive. So now, cookers are just better off stealing the stuff… |