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."
I've already had to show my ID and get logged for buying Sudafed here in Mass. My allergies have gotten much worse over the years and Sudafed is the only medicine that helps me. I resent being treated like a possible criminal when trying to purchase allergy meds.
And I don't have health ins. either or I'd get a 'script from the doctor. Oh wait, here in Mass that makes me a ciminal now for not having health insurance so I guess I *am* one!
Not true, means we don't have meth labs blowing up perfectly good neighborhoods that often anymore on American soil. That is a big bonus to me and to you as well.
It really is getting ridiculous. These restrictions and extra hoops we all have to jump through are increasing geometrically, it seems.
What's next? Filing a report with "reg-a-trip.gov" before we even leave the damn house?
Sheesh!
yes it is a big deal, because they don't allow you to even touch the box without recording your ID and how much you want to buy. They're treating you as a criminal, assuming you're a drug addict or drug maker. And you don't always have to show your ID to buy with a credit card, you only have to do that if you're making a large enough purchase for the store or credit card rules to request confirmation of ID, most of the time, especially for low ticket items like cold medicine, they just compare your signature to the back of the card and you're done.
I believe that. I have seen families torn apart by the stuff. Never to be the same again. It is sad...the kids are effected the worst. I am not sure, however, that passing this law has kept the meth users from getting it. Here's hoping!
You act like meth labs haven't figured out how to get it besides over the counter. I'm sure they've discovered other routes. And in the meantime, our liberties are restricted and government prys into our affairs.
We have to show a photo ID if we have the sniffles and want to buy $2 of a non-prescription medicine,... but it's an outrage and a violation of our civil rights to require us to show a valid photo ID to vote?
Beam me up, Snottie!!
the point of this stuff being behind the counter is to treat every American like a criminal. It didn't even close down American meth labs, Mexican meth labs greater capacity is what did in the small American meth labs, they couldn't compete in volume. None of these idiot freedom destroying laws had any effect on American meth labs, people committed to violating the law find the easy way around petty little laws like this.
This has nothing to do with border security, this has everything to do with using the war on drugs to shred the Bill of Rights.
Umm...do you fathom that none of this has reduced the avaliability of meth or the number of meth-heads?
Im in NY and a few weeks ago I purchased cold medicine for my son... they asked for ID and took all the information down.
So does having a single entrance or a locked storeroom. BFD.
But that's a store controlling access to their private property, nothing wrong with that. These laws are the government treating us all like criminals, which is a violation of the basic concept of our judicial system, and having these companies gather data against us all without any kind of warrant for use in future investigations. Somebody upthread posted on how the cops are now gathering this data from all the stores to decide who's buying too many cold medicines so they can go be arrested. That is indeed a big fucking deal.
Now that you mention it, you may be right. The damn things cost me 11.50 for a 4-pack of them. Maybe I'm a schmuck for paying that much for them, but they really do provide an amazing shave.
Sams Club is already enforcing this nonsense. If you want to buy claritin-D in quantity, you are presumed to be engaging in a crime. I wanted to buy two boxes of 12 Hour Claritin-D.....for my kids and I to use......but I was refused "permission" to buy the medicine needed.
Some moron attached this insanity to the reauthorization of the Patriot Act....yeah, the Patriot Act. What this has to do with terrorism is beyond me. Here's some links:
The Reauthorization of the Patriot Act:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:h3199enr.txt.pdf
See page 65 of the .pdf. That is where Title VII of the Act begins, and where this nonsense started.
I already let my Congress Critter have it.....pasted in below. Use/edit at will:
Representative Murphy,
This evening, I drove about 15 miles to Sam's club to stock up on household items, including anti-histamine/decongestant medication for myself, my 17 year old daughter and my 15 year old son. I wanted to buy 2 packages of 12 hour, Claritin-D; a total of 40 tablets to see three of us through the next ten days, more or less depending on need.
Imagine my surprise when I was told that I could only buy ONE box of 20 tablets for the three of us, because of the reauthorization of the Patriot Act (See Title VII)
I did a little digging, and found that you voted in favor of this idiocy, and that you were a co-sponsor of H.R. 314, The combat Meth Act of 2005. Did you THINK before co-sponsoring this idiocy, or simply EMOTE?
The net impact of your worthless little Jihad against drugs is this: A mother, who is legitimately trying to provide MEDICINE for her CHILDREN is denied the privilege; not for lack of money, not for lack of planning, but because the federal government thinks that I could be using the medicine to make Meth. What a crock.
Under current law, if I wanted to buy three packages of medicine ( a months supply for three people), I'd have to visit three different stores to do it. It's not worth my time, energy, aggravation, or $3.09 / gallon diesel fuel to do it. When all things are considered, it is now cheaper for me to use insurance dollars to buy prescription medication for each of us, even though each 30 tablet prescription carries a $50 co-pay. The insurance company assesses a higher co-pay for this medication because they are under the mis-apprehension that I can get decongestant/anti-histamine medication over the counter. Sure, right.....if I'm willing to visit a different pharmacy every week and buy one package. Perhaps you would like to call my insurance company and explain that your silly little war on drugs precludes me buying the OTC medicine my family and I need to get through allergy season; ask them to reduce the co-pay to the standard $12?
Let me do the math for you: Because of your stupidity, and the stupidity of all of the other congresscritters who voted for this, 90 tablets of decongestant/anti-histamine will now cost me $150 instead of $67.50..... Brilliant Ace....just freakin' brilliant.
Didn't you learn anything about prohibition in history class? Might I suggest that you study the 18th and 21th Amendments? Repeal the stupidity....."For the children."
It's a FEDERAL Law. All states must enforce this insanity.
Please see page 65 of the Bill found here:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:h3199enr.txt.pdf
I noticed as well that as more people got the fancy shavers and blades got expensive that they often went to more secure places.
I think the shaving gel gets left out because it's a buck still and too bulky to hide. Blades are easier to take I guess.
By the way, the local grocery stores are putting in cameras on every isle like Costco now, so they are cracking down on people taking things.
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