Posted on 06/02/2006 1:15:20 PM PDT by John Jorsett
Get ready to give up a little bit of your privacy in exchange for certain allergy or cold medicines.
Starting in late September, just in time for cold season, consumers will be required to fork over photo IDs and list their home addresses in logbooks before buying Sudafed, Contac or other remedies containing the nasal-decongestant pseudoephedrine or similar substances.
Some retailers already are asking for the information, which law-enforcement officials hope will help them fight the illegal production of methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug that can be made, in part, by "cooking" pseudoephedrine.
Consumers in Florida and many other states have grown used to sales restrictions on pseudoephedrine-containing drugs -- including their placement behind pharmacy counters instead of on store shelves.
But the latest rules, which also call for limits on purchases of up to 120 pills a day, are part of a federal effort to combat meth addiction.
Methamphetamine abuse is an increasing problem in the United States, with a recent report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration saying the number of users admitted to substance-abuse clinics more than quadrupled from 1993 to 2003. The problem is particularly acute in rural America, though the Orlando area also has seen a rise in meth labs.
For instance, last year the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration seized 115 meth labs in Central Florida. In 2000, it seized two.
Tracking sales is critical to stopping the spread of meth labs in Central Florida, said Stephen Collins, who heads the Orlando office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Collins said it was "very common" for meth makers to comb the region's stores for cold medicine needed to make the illicit drug.
"We had individuals that would canvass up and down Central Florida and the East Coast and hit numerous stores, buying as much as they could get their hands on," he said. "By limiting this, we hope to see the decrease in the number of labs."
The new regulations, passed in March as part of the USA Patriot Act, are being phased in over the next several months. They are stricter than Florida law and will override it, the Florida Retail Federation said.
Dawn Townsend, a pharmacist at Maitland Rexall Drug Store, said she just recently learned about the logbook rule and is in the process of teaching her staff what to do.
"I don't see it as a hassle," she added.
Industry groups say they expect sales of medicines that contain pseudoephedrine to decline as a result of the law. Already, drug makers are selling reformulated cold medicines that don't need to be placed behind the counter, such as Sudafed PE.
"Most big retailers saw this coming," Walgreen Co. (NYSE:WAG) spokeswoman Carol Hively said.
The rise of meth labs prompted several states, including Florida last summer, to pass laws restricting sales of pseudoephedrine-containing medicine. But while consumers may not mind limits on how much cold medicine they can purchase at one time, they may bristle at giving up personal information to buy it.
"The question here is, is it the job of pharmacies and pharmacists to be a policeman on these products [and] what are the privacy protections for people who legitimately buy these products and have their name recorded somewhere?" said Arthur Levin, director of the New York-based Center for Medical Consumers, a nonprofit advocacy group.
Drugstores say measures are in place to prohibit the disclosure of consumers' private information, which retailers must keep for up to two years after a sale. The federal law, for instance, prohibits retailers from disclosing private information except when a legal request is made by local, state or federal authorities.
"We don't have any intention to use it in any way except to make it available to the authorities," Walgreen's Hively said.
And helping those authorities fight illegal meth production is why Lydia McNeil, 60, of Orlando is willing to give up personal information to buy the Sudafed she uses to treat her colds.
"I wouldn't mind signing anything to keep it out of the hands of the people who are using it for the wrong reason," she said, after shopping at a Walgreens on Michigan Avenue in Orlando.
Though the federal law does not provide for a clearinghouse, so purchases could be tracked from store to store, some retailers are working on that approach themselves within their chains. Walgreens and CVS (NYSE:CVS) -- two of the nation's biggest drugstore chains -- said they are developing systems to monitor sales. Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) says it already uses an electronic logbook that can track purchases at individual outlets but not from store to store.
Marianne Myers, 45, who was shopping at an Albertsons (NYSE:ABS) on South Orange Avenue in Orlando, said she understood the motive behind the new measures but lamented the implications.
"It's probably a hassle for us," the Orlando resident said. "It's sad that things have to be like that."
Nice. Get a cold, become a suspect.
Why would you not want drugs regulated?
What did the men look like?
Good for you.
You did what you could.
I think in this case the original line "We no need no steeenkin' badges" is just as apropos as the paraphrase.
The dealers make money from these laws. The government makes money from confiscating dealer property. It's a win win execpt for the law abiding citizen. Soon you will read stories of normal people going to dealers just to get cough medicine.
I refuse to buy any of this over-the-counter stuff if I have to 'register' for it! If I need something like this I'll get a perscription! A 'free' country where you are limited on how much cold medicine you can buy, hmpf!
Yes, I agree............
The new law would be grat... except for the fact that close to 90% of meth is made in Mexico.
They've already been doing this in Texas. In Austin, the "Allergy Capital Of The World", I was taking an average of six Sudafeds a week for sinus congestion.
I recently tried the Sudafed PEs, which are over-the-counter. I've yet to conclude if they work the same or not. Anyone else who has switched to the PEs, I'd like to know what, if any, differences you have noticed.
WV has been doing it at least this past winter... I guess there are a lot of tweekers in our state. Perhaps it would be more effective if they asked people to smile... oh wait... ;)
I have terrible allergies. FL is notorious for being allergy season all year long. When Walgreens made it so you had to stand in line at the pharmacy counter to buy it, I was pretty upset since I was on my way to work and there were 3 people ahead in line talking to the parmacist. I told them I wasn't happy and went to CVS where it was on the shelves. I guess a lot of people complained and went elsewhere because a week later, it was all back on the shelves again.
Besides, what are grocery stores and other places without perscription pharmacies going to do? It's a stupid law.
I guess these meth people go from place to place around here and buy the stuff, each time having to register that they bought it. They get their name on the log to many times and the authorities add it up and go get them at a later date. It must be easier to do a bunch at one time than one a day.
>>In FL, there is a legal monthly limit to how much you can buy. I can't rememper the quantities, but I think it was 9 grams per month. There are typically 240 mg = 0.24 g per dose. That would be about 37 pills per month.<<
Wow- the dosageI take is two pills at night and sometimes agin in the day during pollen season.. what a bummer.
Last time I tried to buy ONE package of 'nyquill type capsules' at Walmart here in NM, I had to stand in line at the pharmacy;
When I got to the front of the line, I had to show my drivers license. After she laboriously typed in the information from that, I had to provide a telephone number.
Then I was told that I had to sign an electronic document (using the touch screen like they use on their credit card terminals) that I would not use the medicine in an illegal way, that I was limited to purchasing 90 per month and that if I attempted to purchase more than that, I gave permission to them to report me to legal authorities.
At that point I lost my temper and told the poor lady where Walmart could put their pills and their rules.
Already happened today at Wal-mart. We didn't know they would require us to jump through so many hoops: driver's license, look us up on the computer, make us wait for 10 minutes, etc. It's not as if we're teenagers. We just wanted to get rid of the blasted allergy symptoms.
My experience is that the price has gone down dramatically because demand is way down. Also, having alternates on the shelves that don't require Big Brother's permission has brought down prices.
As the meth labs prove, the raw ingredients aren't expensive. Most of what we pay for Sudafed is mark-up.
Already do that here in WA... Had to show my drivers license to buy childrens non-drowsy benadryl...
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