# Meth and Sudafed..policy stupidity in the land of corn. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 20, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475 "2005-09-20T02:06:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@Cerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerri)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/21 "2005-09-20T12:39:15Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > They’ve already done that in [Oregon](http://www.ashp.org/news/ShowArticle.cfm?id=12075). For all the people saying “Eh, it’s no big deal, just go to the doctor and get a scrip”…that’s great if you have health insurance, not to mention the ability to either take time off work to go to the doctor, or even have a way of getting _to_ a doctor, but it’s not that easy for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![jesuslynch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e99b99/32.png) [@jesuslynch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesuslynch)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/22 "2005-09-20T12:45:24Z")
> [@MGibson](#): > > In Arkansas you’ve got to purchase it from the pharmacist. Wal-Mart has these little plastic cards on the shelves where the actual medicine used to be. You take one of those cards to the pharmacist and I guess he’ll give you the medicine. I don’t know if you have to sign for it because we’re not at Wal-Mart when the pharmacy is open. It’s not putting a huge damper on our lives as we rarely use that kind of medicine but it’s enough of a pain in the ass for me notice. > > Marc Yep, you have to sign for it. The State is also working on a real-time data base to restrict you to 3 purchases per month (that’s the law now, but no way to enforce it). On an different note, any liquid suspensions of pseudo can still be purchased off the shelf. That may change since the Arkansas Pharmacy Board is watching to see if the cooks convert their recipes to using the liquids. ---
**Author:** ![YWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6f9a4e/32.png) [@YWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YWalker)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/23 "2005-09-20T12:48:32Z")
Are there restrictions on you [purchasing it on the internet](http://store.darisimall.com/161950.html)? (Yeah, you get stuck with paying shipping, but that’s a small cost to pay when you compare it to a miserable kid. And, unfortunately, you probably can’t even reduce the effect of shipping costs by buying in bulk because that would set off alarms.) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/24 "2005-09-20T12:53:20Z")
Even if the new regulations don’t significantly affect the meth _supply_, if they significantly cut back on the do-it-yourself labs that’ll be a big benefit for the environment. [More here.](http://www.montana.edu/wwwlgc/MPR03/Meth_Labs.html) Must be great to unwittingly move into an apartment that’s been used for meth production and find yourself being poisoned by _phosgene gas_. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/25 "2005-09-20T12:53:33Z")
> [@YWalker](#): > > Are there restrictions on you [purchasing it on the internet](http://store.darisimall.com/161950.html)? > > (Yeah, you get stuck with paying shipping, but that’s a small cost to pay when you compare it to a miserable kid. And, unfortunately, you probably can’t even reduce the effect of shipping costs by buying in bulk because that would set off alarms.) Thing is, this is basically an impulse purchase. You get sick, you drag your ass down to the pharmacy and buy some medicine. As usual, the war on drugs inconveniences the average citizen no end, while interefering with the criminals not one whit. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/26 "2005-09-20T13:14:04Z")
Well, phenylephrine should still be available OTC. Some people find that as helpful as pseudoephedrine. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/27 "2005-09-20T13:19:58Z")
These laws annoys me no end, and the stuff in question does absolutely nothing for me. I gave up on it years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/28 "2005-09-20T13:20:14Z")
> [@Snakescatlady](#): > > Ice is a very, very addictive and dangerous substance. I knew a girl in Hawaii who got addicted to the stuff and blew thousands of dollars on it. She was working as a stripper - and making good money - when one day her neighbors heard screaming from her quarters. They rushed over to see what was wrong, to find her stark naked in the living room tearing her hair out in handfuls and _screaming_ - with her 3 children under the age of 5 standing around her in tears. The MP’s took her off to a substance abuse center, her kids got put in foster care, and her husband (who was attending OCS at Fort Benning in Georgia) got a call to get his ass home. We left the islands shortly after that, so I don’t know what happened, but I have read the relapse rate is very high among ice users. What a lovely story! But so the fuck what? It’s well known that meth is addictive, it’s pretty much impossible to go into it with your eyes shut so why should I be inconvenienced by idiots like her that seem to think they’re above chemical addiction? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/29 "2005-09-20T13:41:46Z")
Your rant is misplaced, **BeagleDave**. It’s not the regulation that is the problem. It’s the dumbfuck meth users that have pissed in the pool and screwed it up for the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/30 "2005-09-20T13:53:02Z")
There is, however, humor to be derived from the government regulation of OTC medicine. Recently they added dextromethorphan, found in Robitussin, to the list of “things which we don’t want certain people to buy”, like cigarettes. So now every time I scan something that contains dextromethorphan, I get a prompt on my register that reminds me–TWICE, in two different ways–to check and see if the customer is over, or under, 18. This invariably gets a laugh from the senior citizens who are the exclusive buyers of Robitussin in our store. I have a nightmare fantasy of the Illinois Attorney General’s office running a sting on our Walgreens in which they get some high school kid to dress up like an old person, and then arrest me for not carding Grandpa’s cough syrup. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/31 "2005-09-20T13:53:13Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Well, phenylephrine should still be available OTC. Some people find that as helpful as pseudoephedrine. I’ve only seen this in adult doses. Is there a children’s version available? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/32 "2005-09-20T13:59:32Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The one thing restricting OTC selling of pseudoephedrine does it cut down on the number of exploding hotel rooms, garages, apartments, backyard sheds, and car trunks. Seriously, Gary, Indiana had a brief epidemic of exploding car trunks last summer from portable home-brew meth labs going **\>BOOM\<** > > In that respect, it’s been effective. Same story here in Georgia. We still have a meth problem, but these days the meth is mostly imported from Mexico. The number of exploding and/or toxic mobile homes in these parts has dropped drastically. I can handle a little inconvenience at the drug store if it helps cut down on the number of half-assed drug labs dotting the countryside. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/33 "2005-09-20T14:02:25Z")
**In the Year 2000!** The US Government will outlaw private ownership of things made from chemicals. * * * As a footnote, I can no longer bring myself to use Sudafed - the level of pseudoephedrine it has gives me a nasty blood pressure spike that concerned one physician I visited. (154/120!) ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/34 "2005-09-20T14:09:38Z")
> [@MGibson](#): > > In Arkansas you’ve got to purchase it from the pharmacist. Wal-Mart has these little plastic cards on the shelves where the actual medicine used to be. You take one of those cards to the pharmacist and I guess he’ll give you the medicine. I don’t know if you have to sign for it because we’re not at Wal-Mart when the pharmacy is open. That’s the way it’s done now in Wisconsin, too, but so far, I haven’t been asked to sign anything. But I believe they have a low limit on how much quantity you can buy at once. And, although it is a minor point, I really hate the packaging which seems to have been imposed on consumers. Those single-pill blister packs are useful some places, but you can’t buy pills in bottles anymore. I’m often popping a pill out of the pack and swallowing a piece of foil along with it. Hey, **QTM,** is there any medicinal value to aluminium? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![PanicZone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2bfe46/32.png) [@PanicZone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PanicZone)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/35 "2005-09-20T14:19:34Z")
I think the hazardous nature of meth labs has been exaggerated. Moon suits, really? I guess there’s a meth problem, but penalizing legitimate Sudafed users doesn’t seem to be a good solution. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/36 "2005-09-20T14:26:02Z")
> [@PanicZone](#): > > I think the hazardous nature of meth labs has been exaggerated. Moon suits, really? I don’t know enough to comment on the toxicity of the meth labs, but I can sure testify to their numerosity. (Until recently, that is.) ---
**Author:** ![PanicZone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2bfe46/32.png) [@PanicZone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PanicZone)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/37 "2005-09-20T14:38:01Z")
Oh, I know that they’re numerous–my father’s a cop in Southern Illinois. I also know that the chemicals involved are flammable and volatile. However, I have a hard time believing that ingredients that can be bought at Wal-Mart require moon-suit-like care in cleaning up. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/38 "2005-09-20T14:39:23Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Well, phenylephrine should still be available OTC. I bought something with this stuff in it. IT doesn’t work nearly as well as pseudoephedrine for me. How do central nervous system stimulants clear your sinuses anyway? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/39 "2005-09-20T15:42:48Z")
Does this mean that the city fathers of Milan, IL will soon hang a banner near the Airport Rd. exit from I-280: We’ve got _Simply Stuffy_? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475/40 "2005-09-20T15:53:01Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Hey, **QTM,** is there any medicinal value to aluminium? 🙂 Depending on who you read, it will either cause senility, protect one from senility, or do neither. Don’t enter a microwave oven after having ingested it, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meth-and-sudafed-policy-stupidity-in-the-land-of-corn/322475.md?page=3)