Is it legal to abuse over the counter drugs?

Factual Questions
1

I’m primarily interested in the US (Federal, and any states or localities that might have laws against this), but am interested if it is explicitly banned anywhere.

Is it a crime or otherwise an offense for a person to abuse over the counter medications or otherwise use them other than as instructed on the label? Are there any crimes for related acts, such as “Purchasing an over the counter drug with intent to abuse it”, or “Possession of an over the counter drug with intent to use it other than as printed on the label”, etc.?

We’re assuming here that the drugs are themselves lawfully obtained (e.g. not stolen, not counterfeit…).

Whether or not abusing over the counter drugs is wise or unwise in terms of health is out of scope for this question.

2

I don’t really know (and the questions seems vague to me), but the first thing I thought was that Sudafed is OTC, and making meth from it is certainly illegal.

3

I’m talking about things like ‘robotripping’. Wikipedia seems to think it’s legal in the US.

That is, if a cop e.g. catches someone taking a much larger dose than the label says, is there anything that they can be charged with?

4

Yeah, I don’t know about that. Although I am interested! From a practical standpoint, i would say they couldn’t do a whole lot, but as far as the actual law goes, I have no idea.

5

Well I think it would be handled like any other legal but potentially mind altering substances (alcohol, prescription drugs, etc.). Ingesting large amounts of OTC products, in and of itself, is not a crime, but doing so and then driving a car could result in a DUI/DWI (for example).

6

DXM is a crappy drug that can have PCP-like effects in high doses. Most abusers of it (including myself decades ago) say it gives more of a dysphoria than a euphoria. It’s for when you really gotta feel different… (where’s that barfy smiley when it’s needed?)

Legally, the most likely charge would be driving while impaired.

7

Mod Note:

Moving this to GQ from IMHO, as its’ a fact-based question.

  • Gukumatz,
    GR & IMHO Moderator
8

You could be charged with public intoxication which is illegal in most if not all US states if you are visibly intoxicated in public and a cop observes this. Anecdote but someone on a board I frequented was arrested and charged with PI when he went outside to ask a police officer what was going on when his friend was getting a parking ticket, he was on DXM and his pupils were very dilated, the cop asked him “what the hell is wrong with your eyes son?!” before slapping the cuffs on. No other signs of intoxication according to him.

In some countries it is illegal to BE a drug addict, who knows if its enforced or what the definition of addict is.

9

there is a term in place that covers this.
it’s called “substance abuse.”

using any drug or product other than as directed can become a criminal matter. this means over-doing over-the-counter drugs, huffing glue or paint, doing whippits or salvia, or various other things.
that’s why a lot of products carry the “use only as directed” imperative.

i know someone who was swiftly legally discharged from the military after being caught buying salvia (k2, spice) at a local gas station where it was 100% legal to purchase. not the same thing per se, but it’s just an example of how legal substances and have criminal implications.

More similar to the op’s question: I know a local who is constantly being locked up for huffing metallic spray paint.

Being any kind of messed up in public (be it because of Rx, booze, illicit drugs or over-the-counter) is a legal concern.

You can get in trouble for driving while you’re too sleepy (driving while impaired) or anything else deemed reckless behavior as well.

I think the mitigating factors are 1. Where you are when you are under the influence of the substance being abused 2. What the substance is (and how easy it is to determine abuse) and 3. How you are behaving. If you take too many sleeping pills and are at the movies, drowsy, not really causing a fuss or endangering anyone, I do not think anyone would have recourse to enforce anything. Likewise if you are doing “whippits” or huffing glue in the privacy of your own home–I think the legality falls under the same umbrella of being able to get drunk at home legally. It’s when you get out in public and create a stir, then are found to be under the influence of (anything) that it becomes a legal problem.

I have known officers to take disoriented people due to drugs (rx or otherwise) home upon discovering the issue; they usually are sympathetic to some kind of unexpected reaction when there’s no sign of deliberate misuse. This has happened with over-use of cough syrup or other cold medicines as well as various unexpected drug interactions (my brother is a police officer so I hear a lot of cop stories all the time).

The thing about, say, abusing Nyquil is there’s no field test for it other than determining you’re publically impaired or being reckless. So I think it’s less common to prosecute than alcohol or illicit drugs.

10

(bolding mine)

Yes, but it can’t become a crime simply for the misuse itself. There has to be mitigating factors, as you point out. The guy who is constantly being locked up for huffing metallic spray is not being locked up for that abuse. He is (I am guessing here) being locked up for being publically intoxicated and it just so happens that metallic spray is his drug of choice.

11

exactly.
as i understand it, if you stay in the privacy of your own home, you can do as you please. it only becomes an issue as you go out and get in public.

12

I’ve got what we like to locally refer to as the “World’s Largest Trailer Park” a few miles up the road from me. Every week or so, the newspaper is full of reports and stories of people from there being arrested for abusing cough syrup or huffing an inhalant. More often than not, the resulting charges are ‘neglect of a dependant,’ or ‘endangering the welfare of a child.’ Sometimes a public intoxication, but rarely will you see just a PI, it’s usually involves the kid aspect and when it does, there is no accompanying intoxication charges. I know another teenager (18) that drove his car into someone while abusing an inhalant, and he was charged with driving while intoxicated.

13

There is nothing beyond the hubris of the United States Federal Government to regulate and criminalize.

I have here a spray can of Raid bug spray that is labeled:

[QUOTE=S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc.]
It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling
[/quote]

A LOT of products are so labelled.

I note, though, that my bottles of store-brand Caffient tablets, ibuprofen tablets, and multi-vitamin tablets don’t have any such notice that I can find. So I guess I’m free to huff those all I want, but I can’t huff Raid bug spray.

These question over whether you can do what you want with Raid (or whatever) in the privacy of your own home should perhaps be clarified. It might still be a crime, but in general you can only be prosecuted for crimes if you get caught. So the proper question might be, what catching powers does The Man have? If they get a search warrant on suspicion that you have illegal Cuban cigars and raid your house and find you huffing Raid, I think you’re scrod. There’s been recent news that SCOTUS will be hearing a case on whether a drug-sniffing dog can sniff your front doorstep without a warrant. What if said pooch sniffs your Raid? That is probably NOT going to warrant a warrant. If pooch sniffs your illegal Mexican foliage, and they bust in and find you huffing Raid, you are probably scrod.

14

[QUOTE=Label on Spray Can]
It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling
[/QUOTE]
Ah, but Raid isn’t a drug; it’s a pesticide, which is a whole different ball of wax, regulation-wise. The main point of the pesticide laws isn’t to protect you from sniffing poison if that’s what you want to do. The point is to protect you from having to sit inside a cloud of Agent Orange because your upwind neighbor decided to get all aggro on the aphids in his vegetables. And to make sure your grandchildren aren’t getting a heaping helping of poison on their vegetables, etc. Remember, most pesticides are used in huge batches at farms and stuff, and it’s really important that only the appropriate amount is used.

If you’d prefer to live in a land where there are no restrictions on what poisons can be sprayed in the air, or on food, then, sorry I’m afraid you’ve been pretty seriously outvoted. Most people prefer warning labels to cancer.

Sure, there’s not a whole lot of danger from misusing a single can of Raid, but first, I’m sure the EPA is open to a good solution on how to (cheaply) rewrite regulations so they don’t apply to a single can, in a way that would apply to someone buying a couple cases of single can.

And second are you seriously getting bent out of shape about a LABEL? Correct me if I’m wrong, but nobody is busting down your door searching for evidence of misused spray cans, or making you register every can and report on its use, or waterboarding you because some anonymous person mentioned you were abusing OTC pesticides or anything, right?

15

we *want *that.
and that’s happening.

this is *awfully *aggressive for no real reason…what’s the deal with that…?
i believe the point of the label quotation was to say that misuse of any product other than explicitly directed can be a legal conundrum (which satisfies the OP’s question).

regardless of it being a drug or not, misusing it can become a legal issue. that was the point.

paint’s not a drug, either, nor is airplane glue, cooking spray, gasoline, whipped cream propellant, or permanent markers–but the same principles apply.

16

I was thinking the same, but I thought it might be obvious. It’s clearly legal for an adult of proper age to drink as much alcohol as you want to at home as long as they don’t shirk any legal duties such as taking care of children, or going out and driving a car under the influence, etc. Whether or not you are on alcohol, paint thinner, dextromethorphan, or White Out, there are legal responsibilities regarding intoxication, and it doesn’t always matter WHAT drug it IS. I’m primarily interested in the very act of using the drug itself, e.g. whether there is any criminal offense where the gravamen is simple use of a drug other than as directed, without any requirement that the prosecution prove that the person harmed or endangered anyone while under the influence of it.

17

Quercus beat me to the punch regarding the Raid. That exact warning is mandated by the EPA. It refers (I think) to FIFRA. If you were insane enough to huff Raid, would you be violating provision of FIFRA? Probably so. If the EPA knew you were doing it, would they lobby to have you prosecuted for it? Almost certainly not. The environmental impact of some dude (or even a bunch of dudes) huffing Raid is insignificant at best. And even as far as that goes, it’s a self-limiting problem. :stuck_out_tongue:

The usual disclaimers that IANAL, nor am I intimately familiar with the laws of every city/state/county apply. However:

Abusing OTC medications/products (anything under the purview of the FDA as opposed to the EPA) is no different, legally, from abusing alcohol. In and of itself, it is not generally illegal. However, there are quite a few “peripheral” things which are illegal (most of which have been mentioned already):

[ul][li]Almost all states have laws against public intoxication which apply to any substance. Specific standards vary, of course.[/li][li]Similarly, driving while intoxicated is illegal everywhere that I can think of.[/li][li]Disturbing the peace is usually illegal, even if you can’t prove public intoxication.[/li][li]Purchasing OTC products that contain pseudo-ephedrine – if done in accordance with federal and state purchasing limits – is not in and of itself illegal that I am aware of, even if you intend to use it to make meth. Actually making meth is, of course, quite illegal regardless of how you do it. That said, the relevant federal laws (CMEA), and probably most additional state regulations do not place the burden of compliance solely on the vendor. Vendors have restrictions on how much they can sell to a person per day, per month, etc. But there are also legal limits on how much a person is allowed to buy. In other words, if you go around to every store in town buying sudafed, they may not be violating the selling limits, but you are probably violating the purchasing limits. Similarly, I think (but am not certain) that there may be either some federal or state limits with regards to individual storage/ownership. That is, even if you’re purchasing it legally, you can’t stockpile it. I’m not 100% sure on that, but I seem to remember reading something to that effect somewhere, sometime.[/li][li]Attempting suicide (unassisted) is actually illegal in many states. Abusing OTC drugs for this purpose would therefore be indirectly illegal. This rarely gets prosecuted, and even more rarely goes trial. Typically the point of filing the charges is just to get a pre-trial competency hearing replete with a mandatory psych eval in the hopes of having the defendant involuntarily committed to psychiatric treatment before a trial can proceed. Charges are conveniently dropped if/when the defendant is discharged therefrom.[/li][li]Accidental OD might be construed as attempted suicide if someone wanted to prosecute you badly enough (unlikely, but possible).[/li][li]I don’t know if there are legal ramifications for being a “frequent flier” in the ER due to OTC drug abuse, but there might be. Certainly, the hospital, EMTs, and ambulance service are going to be sending you a bill, and you can wind up in civil court if you don’t pay up.[/ul][/li]I can’t think of anything else offhand.

18

i meant to say ealier that public intoxication laws vary from state to state, so there’s simply not going to be an absolute answer.

some states don’t even have public intoxication laws at all. be drunk at the mall in MO, it’s cool.