# Where the fuck is the Nyquil?!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [June 16, 2005, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517 "2005-06-16T11:05:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/21 "2005-06-17T10:10:55Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> The House earlier this week passed the legislation by a vote of 114 to 0. With the exception of Missouri and Iowa, which have laws that are much less restrictive than the provisions of SB 2244, no state bordering Illinois has passed legislation restricting the sale of over-the-counter pills to meth makers.

Not true any longer - Indiana’s new law goes into effect July 1

The effect at present being, of course, that you can’t find any such cold remedies because the methheads are apparently stocking up in anticipation of their supplies being cut off.

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**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/22 "2005-06-17T10:42:14Z")

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> [@Slithy Tove](#):
>
> I’ts also against the law to sell syringes for use other than their intened purpose (diabetic supply), but junkies buy at pharmacies all the time. We just sell them the needles in the faint hope they’ll be less likely to share.

Yeah, but if you sell needles to a junkie, you reduce the chance of them picking up/spreading bloodborne infectious diseases. Sell pseudoephedrine to a junkie and maybe they blow some folks up in a meth lab accident. Not that I don’t sympathize with pharmacists stuck in the middle in the latter case.

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**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/23 "2005-06-17T12:44:05Z")

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> [@Ferret Herder](#):
>
> Looks like in Illinois, it went in front of the governor [May 2004](http://www.ag.state.il.us/pressroom/2004_05/20040527c.html), and I’m sure he signed it, especially **since all the stores do have this stuff behind the counter now.** (bolding mine)

Actually, they don’t. My Target, my WalMart, my Jewel, my Walgreens, my Dominick’s (you get the picture) all still have them ON THE SHELVES, but in view of the pharmacy. (Northwest burbs.)

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**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/24 "2005-06-17T18:53:50Z")

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> [@Ashes](#):
>
> I found out about this new law when I tried to buy sudafed and nyquil at Costco a couple of weeks ago. It’s working beautifully in preventing meth lab operators from getting their hands on the evil pseudoephedrine!
> 
> Took the cashier an extra \*two minutes \* to charge me seperately for the nyquil. Meth heads foiled again.
> 
> I hope you feel better soon. And you just might, if you pass the nyquil background check, that is.

Ugh, I just went through the new “Why do you hate America?” Costco interrogation when trying to stock up on Sudafed. After wandering the aisle a dozen times I finally went up to the pharmacy counter.

Me: “Don’t you guys carry Sudafed anymore?”  
Gum-poppin’ Girl: “Oh yeah, we keep it behind the counter 'cause it’s dangerous now. Here you go.” \<hands me a box\>  
Me: “Um, what is this? Don’t you have the classic Sudafed? This is different.”  
GG: “Oh yeah, it’s new, they changed their formula” I look at the box, some weird mystery ingredient, but no psuedoephedrine–which is the only thing I’ve found that works reliably for me.  
Me: “I want that kind” \<points to the stack of boxes of Sudafed classic insufficiently hidden in plain sight next to the new formula Sudafed\>  
GG: “Um…we aren’t supposed to sell it really, but we can if you sign this. It’s so you don’t buy too much”

I then have to fill out this form with my name, DL#, member number, how many I’m buying, and show my ID.

Me: “Great, thanks. I’ll feel safe now from the meth addicts that have been hounding my incessantly all these years.”  
GG: “Oh yeah?”

I get home, obviously distressed that the nanny state has decided that adults are incapable of deciding what works for their own allergies, and say to my wife, “Get to Costco now, their discontinuing our Sudafed, lets buy 'em out!” My wife has a different last name on her member card, so should be a piece of cake to get some more boxes before the open-sored rheumy-eyed withdrawal-spasming meth freaks get wind of the shortage.

Well, she returns home empty handed. Apparently our little brownshirt GG has had just enough totalitarian paranoia washed into her gummy little brain to take the time to notice that my wife’s member number is only one number different from my own. Busted! :smack:

Fucking nanny culture. :mad:

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**Author:** ![Cemetery\_Savior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Cemetery\_Savior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cemetery_Savior)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/25 "2005-06-17T19:41:59Z")

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> [@Missy2U](#):
>
> Actually, they don’t. My Target, my WalMart, my Jewel, my Walgreens, my Dominick’s (you get the picture) all still have them ON THE SHELVES, but in view of the pharmacy. (Northwest burbs.)

Ditto my local stores. Actually, I just bought a couple of bottles for my meth lab…er…personal use. (also NW burbs…per my location)

Does anyone find it funny that CostCo is monitoring you so you can’t buy “too much” Sudafed? You can get a 55-gallon drum of mayonnaise, but only one botttle of Sudafed.

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**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/26 "2005-06-17T21:58:59Z")

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I can buy a rifle and ammo at my local Wal-mart, but if they don’t have a pharmacy, I can’t get Sudafed.

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**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/27 "2005-06-17T22:47:52Z")

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Makes me so glad I bought 10 pounds of ephedra before it got all illegal. Dried leaf, unprocessed.

I just make my own cold medicine with the real ephedrine. None o’ this mamby pampy pseudo stuff! 😃

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**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/28 "2005-06-18T01:34:03Z")

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Oh crud. Wisconsin’s restricting it to pharmacies starting October 1st, but quantities are being restricted starting _next Wendesday_!

Shopping time!

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**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/29 "2005-06-18T12:09:33Z")

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Well, the meth problem should be cleared up in a couple of months, and all the money that was being spent on tracking down meth labs, detoxing the premises, holding trials, and imprisoning violators can now be spent on finding a cure for the common cold. I look forward to the total success of both endeavors. It’s time to sell my Nyquil stock.

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**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/30 "2005-06-18T23:51:26Z")

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At least they are still selling Maximum Strength Robotussin (or are they? havent bought any in about 6 months.)

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**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/31 "2005-06-19T00:08:01Z")

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Well, thank goodness Massachusetts has so far resisted the hysteria. Although with our square-jawed governor contemplating a run for the Presidency, I daresay he’ll leap onto that particular bandwagon as soon as the anti-gay-marriage one he’s currently driving loses a wheel or two.

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**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/32 "2005-06-19T00:16:26Z")

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Shit. This explains why I had to go hunt down the pharmacist for Benadryl. I wondered why all those ‘ask at Pharmacy window’ signs were all over the bare spots on shelves.

That was surreal fun. Good thing it was the usual Walgreens where I’m a regular.

Get this: I have seasonal allergies, with all the spiffy presciptions meds that at least let me breathe, but–get this–my _dog_ is also allergic to tree pollen. (Yes, I know; she’d laugh too, or at least wag her tail, if she weren’t busy scratching frantically.)

Every morning and every evening she gets the lowest-possible-dose Benadryl capsule in a sliver of turkey, by her vet’s order. And it _works_. She doesn’t itch or scratch, her fur is glossy, I snitch a few on bad days so we can tramp though the woods, park and just plain 'roundabouts.

Until I had to explain why I needed to buy another full bottle of capsules so soon. The poor pharmacist (a really nice, conscientious guy) had to call the mutt’s _vet_ to confirm that she needed the formerly OTC meds.

Talk about feeling deeply stupid _and_ paranoid.

It’s for my dog. Right, lady. METH FIEND!

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**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/33 "2005-06-19T00:38:00Z")

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> [@TVeblen](#):
>
> It’s for my dog. Right, lady. METH FIEND!

🙂

I didn’t realize dogs and people could take the same meds. Is this why my vet wouldn’t let me have a tranquilizer for my dog? He freaks out during thunderstorms. Sometimes he quivers and shakes so bad and for so long, I think he’s going to have a heart attack.

The vet looked at me very suspiciously when I asked, and I’ve been too paranoid to ask another vet.

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**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/34 "2005-06-19T01:25:30Z")

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> [@AuntiePam](#):
>
> 🙂
> 
> I didn’t realize dogs and people could take the same meds. Is this why my vet wouldn’t let me have a tranquilizer for my dog? He freaks out during thunderstorms. Sometimes he quivers and shakes so bad and for so long, I think he’s going to have a heart attack.
> 
> The vet looked at me very suspiciously when I asked, and I’ve been too paranoid to ask another vet.

Some animals species can take some human medicines and benefit. Some human medicines will harm or kill them. Can’t give human aspirin to a cat, for example, except for baby aspirin. A number of veterinary drugs are in fact also used in humans, may have originally been developed for people and their approved uses enlarged later to animals. For example, for many years I had a cat on propranolol, a human heart medication.

But I think your vet was on guard because of criminal abuse of [ketamine](http://www.jeantweed.com/ketamine.htm),

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**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/35 "2005-06-19T01:35:17Z")

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> [@AuntiePam](#):
>
> 🙂
> 
> I didn’t realize dogs and people could take the same meds. Is this why my vet wouldn’t let me have a tranquilizer for my dog? He freaks out during thunderstorms. Sometimes he quivers and shakes so bad and for so long, I think he’s going to have a heart attack.
> 
> The vet looked at me very suspiciously when I asked, and I’ve been too paranoid to ask another vet.

I have no idea about tranqs. I doubt they translate exactly. (One idiot vet required a muzzle and tranqs for Da Pooch for nail clips. She doesn’t _like_ nail clips, but she’s a wuss. No biting, _ever_: just hug her during the process and she’s cool. Not happy, but resigned and peaceful. The vet cowering against the door and making vampire warding-signs was an open invitation for her to squirm.)

I don’t give Da Pooch any meds her vet doesn’t okay. Fortunately, we have a great vet. She (the good vet) gave me meds specifically for Da Pooch when 1. she sprains a vulnerable paw (recurring problem) or 2. for extended travel. Those are her weak spots. They let her rest when she needs it.

Don’t let anybody’s suspicion daunt you, **Auntie Pam**. _Good_ vets–and doctors, and pharmacists–will listen to you, and hear what you say.

FWIW (i.e. nothing) my doctor cracked into outright hysterics when I groused about being ‘busted’ for med-abuse because of my _dog_.

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**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/36 "2005-06-19T02:11:15Z")

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> [@AuntiePam](#):
>
> I didn’t realize dogs and people could take the same meds.

I filled a prescription for digoxin, a heart medication, at a regular pharmacy; it was for one of my ferrets. Digoxin’s dose varies by body weight, and when the pharmacist looked at the prescription, he asked if it was for an infant. 😃 I told him what it was for, and he was more interested in realizing that yes, the dose was correct rather than puzzling over the odd patient species.

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**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/37 "2005-06-19T02:21:19Z")

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**Veb** , next time you see your vet, ask her if she’s had to add any security measures to ward off ketamine thieves. My understanding is, theft of that veterinary drug has become a real headache for a lot of practices, as outlined in [this article](http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/mar00/s030100c.asp). That’s from the year 2000, but I believe it’s still a concern for vets.

An odd sidenote I just stumbled across: [an adverse drug reaction peculiar to a specific dog breed](http://groups.msn.com/ShowBoxers/acepromazinewarning.msnw).

> [@](#):
>
> There is one drug commonly used in anesthetic protocols that should not be used in the Boxer. The drug is Acepromazine, a tranquilizer, which is often used as a preanesthetic agent. In the Boxer, it tends to cause a problem called first degree heart block, a potentially serious arrhythmia of the heart. It also causes a profound hypotension (severe lowering of the blood pressure) in many Boxers that receive the drug.

**Ferret Herder** , I got my cat’s propranolol from a drugstore, and have filled other prescriptions for my animals at human pharmacies. Heck, there was a class action lawsuit involving BuSpar a few years ago where I wound up getting a wee check because I’d had a cat on it for a while.

Just recently my vet called in a prescription to our local, independent pharmacy for a thyroid medication for one cat, a medicine that had to be specifically compounded for Sylvia. The pharmacist was totally unfazed, in fact we had a nice chat about our assorted critters while I was picking it up.

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**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/38 "2005-06-19T09:55:32Z")

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> [@TVeblen](#):
>
> Shit. This explains why I had to go hunt down the pharmacist for Benadryl.

They put _Benadryl_ behind the counter? That isn’t used in meth production…

Unless you’re talking about the formulations with pseudoephedrine? Or did they just get lazy and dump everything in the cold and allergy relief aisle on the poor pharmacist?

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**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/39 "2005-06-19T11:00:08Z")

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Yep, Benadryl capsules.  
::shrugs::  
Just about all the cold and allergy stuff had ‘ask pharmacist’ signs on the shelves.

Veb

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**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-fuck-is-the-nyquil/308517/40 "2005-06-19T12:22:07Z")

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Well, not only did I need the NyQuil for my, (now passing, thank the gods) cold, but I suffer from seasonal allergies as well. Looks like I get to play the game all over again when I go to buy my claritin D.

Ya know, I just used to dislike those fucking meth tweekers before. Now I hates their fucking guts.

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