My wife has a nasty flu. She had a wicked cough and a friend of ours suggested getting Codamine from the pharmacy.
I was told that it is available without a prescription, but I had to sign for it since it is a controlled substance. I have never heard of this before.
Are there any other “hidden” drugs that don’t require a prescription, but you need to ask a pharamacist to get?
Thanks, Jason
P.S. The codamine knocked my wife out, but her cough is getting better.
DEA info on controlled substance schedules.
In my country, perhaps of some relevance, controlled substances policies involve anything to do with opiates and steroids, to name but two types. It’s been fairly standard practice for some OTC (over the counter) medications for a few years, now.
The biggest one I know about is Sudafed (or it’s generic equivalent), or anything containing pseudoefedrine as a primary ingredient. It can be used to make meth, which is apparently fairly easy to synthesise in a home lab. It didn’t used to be restricted, but most drug stores/supermarkets now require that you request it from behind the counter. It’s not a pharmacy secret, but access is definately controlled.
In Canada, pseudoephedrine is over-the-counter. It’s not dead easy to turn it into meth. And drug stores cell Tylenol with 10mg of codeine on request.
It’s still considered over the counter, because it doesn’t require a prescription, but you do have to request it, rather than just grabbing it off of the shelves.
interesting side point:
friend of mine is a drug designer in Boston. (Pharm D - Dr. of Pharmacy).
He said that drug laws in the states, when they bust you for a meth lab or whatever, they assume 100 percent yield of your initial ingredients. For example, if you have 100lbs of A and 100lbs of B in order to make Meth, they assume that will make 200 lbs of meth and prosecute you thusly.
He said that even a 10-20 percent yield is good for that kinda stuff, even so, it’s a multi step process…sometimes 10-12 steps using say 100 lbs of ingredients to make one pound of illegal whatever…
just a thought…
D.
You can also be prosecuted for mixing up over-the-counter medications with other substances. I can’t remember the details, but I read awhile back that a few college students were subjecting over-the-counter asthma medication to a chemical process and selling the results on their campus.
Believe you me, Schedule 5 exempt narcotics are no secret. The secret is finding a pharmacist willing to risk his license by selling it to you. I have often wondered why this class exists - but I’m beginning to think that it’s an alarm bell for the DEA to watch a pharmacist.
I have seen people buy a bottle of Novahistine DH, sign out, go to the bathroom and drink it all, and leave the empty bottle on the sink. Bringing out the empty bottle after they left was how I convinced one pharmacist that he was being lied to (I was a tech at the time).
I won’t sell it to you. I have seen way too much abuse.
miatachris, R.Ph.
Would this explain the sudden appearence of signs pasted to the registers at my local Genovese barring the sale of ‘six-of-anything’ to a single person at a time?
(Six of any over the counter remedies, that is. If you want a dozen Reeses peanut butter cups, you’re welcome to them…)
The idea behind schedule V drugs (which are generally very weak opiates, or moderately strong opiates in small doses mixed with other drugs) was a good one, originally. It gives an educated layperson options for correct usage of drugs like codiene without needing to visit a physician. But the abuse potential is just far too great, so as miatachris points out, wise pharmacists generally won’t get involved in distributing schedule V without a legitimate prescription, legal loophole or not.
As for abuse of cold remedies, pseudoephedrine abuse has already been mentioned, and dextromethorphan abuse is also rampant. The latter is sort of the pharmacologic equivalent of hitting yourself in the head with a hammer to change your world outlook, but it does float some people’s boats.
If they bust you for growing pot, they count the weight of the soil towards your total. So you might have one plant that would yield a few ounces of dried buds, but you will be prosecuted for 10 lbs or more.