# How recently could you buy Codeine cough syrup over-the-counter?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-recently-could-you-buy-codeine-cough-syrup-over-the-counter/440142
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 5, 2008, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-recently-could-you-buy-codeine-cough-syrup-over-the-counter/440142 "2008-03-05T03:31:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2008, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-recently-could-you-buy-codeine-cough-syrup-over-the-counter/440142/1 "2008-03-05T03:31:07Z")
I’m writing a story taking place in 1997. Was cough syrup containing codeine available without a prescription back then?
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2008, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-recently-could-you-buy-codeine-cough-syrup-over-the-counter/440142/2 "2008-03-05T03:39:37Z")
Does this wiki cite help?
\*n the United States, codeine is regulated by the Controlled Substances Act. It is a Schedule II controlled substance for pain-relief products containing codeine alone or more than 90 mg per dosage unit. In combination with aspirin or acetaminophen (paracetamol/Tylenol) it is listed as Schedule III or V, depending on formula. Preparations for cough or diarrhea containing small amounts of codeine in combination with two or more other active ingredients are Schedule V in the US, and may be dispensed in amounts up to 4 fl. oz. per 48 hours without a prescription. Schedule V specifically consigns the product to state and local regulation beyond certain required record-keeping requirements (a dispensary log must be maintained for two years in a ledger from which pages cannot easily be removed and/or are pre-numbered and the pharmacist must ask for a picture ID such as a driving licence) and also which maintain controlled substances in the closed system at the root of the régime intended by the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 – e.g. the codeine in these products was a Schedule II substance when the company making the Schedule V product acquired it for mixing up the end product. In locales where dilute codeine preparations are non-prescription, anywhere from very few to perhaps a moderate percentage of pharmacists will sell these preparations without a prescription. However, many states have their own laws that do require a prescription for Schedule V drugs.
Codeine is also available outside the United States as an over-the-counter drug in liquid cough-relief formulations. Internationally, codeine is a Schedule II drug under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.[4]\*
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### Author:  [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2008, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-recently-could-you-buy-codeine-cough-syrup-over-the-counter/440142/3 "2008-03-05T04:24:17Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers]
I’m writing a story taking place in 1997. Was cough syrup containing codeine available without a prescription back then?
[/QUOTE]
I bought some in China last year. 🙂
Still have it in the drug cabinet, in fact, if that helps your story any.
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### Author:  [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2008, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-recently-could-you-buy-codeine-cough-syrup-over-the-counter/440142/4 "2008-03-05T05:01:51Z")
You can still buy it over the counter in limited quantities, depending on the state law. The Wal-Mart I work at doesn’t sell it, but two of the older “hometown” pharmacies in town do. I think they sell they generic Robitussin AC, but I’m not 100% sure since I’ve never bought it. I should though, just to take home and abuse. (Kidding (sort of, my APN can’t prescribe controlled drugs and this Rozerem isn’t cutting it))
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2008, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-recently-could-you-buy-codeine-cough-syrup-over-the-counter/440142/5 "2008-03-05T05:50:34Z")
OK, that last response works for me.
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### Author:  [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2008, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-recently-could-you-buy-codeine-cough-syrup-over-the-counter/440142/6 "2008-03-05T07:17:51Z")
You can still buy codeine based cough syrups OTC in the U.S. under Federal Law. However, in some states it might be prescription only. In the only state I have information on, Georgia, It is legal to purchase one (1) 4-oz (118ml) bottle of the generic of Robitussin AC every 48 hours.
To purchase it, you first have to find a pharmacy that is willing to sell it to you, they need to log the purchase on a special controlled exemption log.
I work at a pharmacy, so the last time I had a bad cough, in January, I had the pharmacist order some for me.
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### Author:  [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2008, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-recently-could-you-buy-codeine-cough-syrup-over-the-counter/440142/7 "2008-03-05T09:04:20Z")
Just head for Canada. From [this site](http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/294405_canada02.html):
> [@](#):
>
> 222s (aka A.C.&C.'s) over the counter. Get your aspirin with codeine and caffeine, no questions asked.
IIRC codeine cough syrups are prescription, though.
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### Author:  [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2008, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-recently-could-you-buy-codeine-cough-syrup-over-the-counter/440142/8 "2008-03-05T15:50:48Z")
I’ve been getting codeine cought syrup by prescription, and hearing that it was a controlled substance with more restrictive limitations on filling and refilling and transferring prescriptions, since 1987, in Delaware and Maryland.