Posted on 01/10/2005 6:48:57 PM PST by Dog Gone
AUSTIN - A state senator who wants to eliminate from the market drugs that contain mainly pseudoephedrine has introduced a series of four bills for returning lawmakers.
Under the legislation by Sen. Craig Estes, no one would be able to buy drugs like Sudafed in Texas. But he said consumers could still buy other congestion remedies containing the decongestant, as long as it is mixed into capsules and cough syrups.
"We hope the general public will realize that a little inconvenience will go a long way," Estes, R-Wichita Falls, told the Scripps Howard Austin bureau in Monday's editions of the Abilene Reporter-News.
In Oklahoma, passage of state legislation last spring that banned store sales of popular medications like Sudafed and Claritin-D that contain pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in methamphetamine, was credited with reducing the number of methamphetamine labs during the first six months of 2004.
Police and prosecutors have been "inundated by meth abusers and cookers" who have crossed into Texas after Oklahoma outlawed over-the-counter sales of pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in methamphetamine production, Estes said.
Restricting sales of common cold remedies that contain the illegal drug's key ingredient could aid in the fight against drugs, said Capt. Doug Kunkle of the Texas Department of Public Safety in Austin.
"It will really reduce the amount of meth they will cook here," Kunkle said. "Anything that can bring us relief ... will be helpful."
DPS officials and other law officers, in a 12-month period that ended in May 2004, busted 934 labs. That number represents a 167 percent increase over a 12-month period ending in December 2002.
"This is drug that is terribly addictive and leads to death and destruction of family and property," Estes said. "It's an overwhelming problem."
The 79th Legislature opens Tuesday
Acetaminophen can kill your liver. Should it be prescription too? Ibuprofen can do damage to your small intestine...ban it?
Aspirin doesn't make your heart race even at 60mg doses like pseudophed can...nor does aspirin give you insomnia or put one into a hyperanxious, "fingernails on the chalboard", potentially explosive excitability state. Forget about using it with a hypertrophic prostate and older folks prone to "sun downers syndrome", for get it...you don't want grandpa getting confused and dis-oriented with it. It is called PSEUDO-ephedrine(false ephedrine) for good reason!
Sure acetominophen in large suicidal doses will kill your liver or in doses exceeding 4 grams a day for a number of weeks(if you have to tke that much, then one is already in serious trouble).
Since they changed pseudofed to nonprescription in 1976 or so, the manufacturers have already had to change the maximum doses from 120mgs to 60 mgs q6h, with the starting doses changed from 60mg q6h to 30mgs q6h(not more than 180mg's a day should be taken of the quick release form) because of cardio vascular arrithmias, and mental side effects such as hyper excitability and psychosis, and exacerbation of swollen prostates. pseudofed is in the EPHEDRINE families and we all know what the ephedra class of drugs do. It is called PSEUDO-Ephedrine(false ephedrine for good reason).
My point is that I disagree with the "big brother" antics that states are adopting in controlling this drug. Just pass a law making it a prescription drug....they should not be requiring vendors to collect picture ID's and addresses of those who want to use the drug.
That way it provides a less unobtrusive method of trying to control unauthorised pseudophed use as prescriptions can be monitored and traced to the Doctors ordering and the patients getting it. If patients are multiple doctor shopping to get the drug(presumably for meth lab use), this will be picked up on!
Pretty much. He came to my mind because I was complaining about politicians and then realized the guy I felt forced to support for president is pretty worthless himself. It doesnt look good for my hopes of getting a real conservative president any time soon.
Your statistics raise an interesting question. Do the Netherlands count only those who show up wanting to get off drugs? In a society in which drug use is more tolerated, it seems likely that those seeking to get off the junk would be lower.
Looks like the figure is an estimate of the total:
"Authorities believe such programs reach about 7080 percent of the country's 25,000 harddrug users."
Also, in a country with harsh drug laws, I would think there would be much more reason to hide heroin usage, whereas the same would not be true in the Netherlands.
"In a society in which drug use is more tolerated, it seems likely that those seeking to get off the junk would be lower."
I doubt people like being junkies any more in the Netherlands than they do here. That would be a miserable life regardless of the laws. I think the fear of arrest and incarceration is low on the list of worries for drug addicts here. They're much more concerned about how they'll get high tonight, if they are going to eat, where they'll sleep, and that sort of thing. The threat of getting busted is just one more thing they put out of their minds.
I don't know how things are with drug addicts in the Netherlands. I don't know any Dutch drug addicts. I do deal with a lot of drug addicts here in the states though. One thing common among them is that they don't think much about what might happen in the future. They live chaotic lives and struggle to get by, living in the present. You see this even with the ones that have money here. Their addictions consume their lives. What they are most concerned with is staying high. I suspect that addicts in one country aren't much different than addicts in another. It would be a crappy life whether the drug use was more tolerated than it is here or not.
No truer words.
Now, what is the Drug War buying us if addicts' lives, and the number of addicts, is roughly the same in places that are not spending $40-70B on narcs and prisons?
Imagine how much smaller our CJ system would be without a Drug War. Imagine how much freer we would all be without the no-knock raids, silly "probable cause" generators like dogs, and without asset forfeiture. Not to mention $40-70B richer every year.
None of which is as bad as dying from aspirin overdose. So should aspirin be available by prescription only?
No...people had heart attacks and died because the original over the counter dosages were too high! It's a wonder pseudo fed hasn't been sued off the market. W
Also don't lose the point, the article was speaking of the use of Pseudofed as an ingredient for Crystal Meth and the need to control its sale.
Aspirin doesn't get you high and seems to be one of the med's of choice(Tylenol is also a favorite) for borderline females attempts at attention seeking suicide attempts. That, and can be a cause of GI bleeds for old folks taking other anticoagulants. Other wise in low doses Aspirin doesn't have the more profound cardio vascular effects that Pseudofed can have at its low doses.
I'm not the one who brought up its harmful effects when unconverted to meth.
Aspirin doesn't get you high
Does pseudophedrine? I never heard of anyone taking it recreationally.
It's for the chirlins, doncha know.
The Meth problem has become so pervasive, our firemen are at serious risk when they respond to house fires. They never know whaen they may have another meth lab explode in thier faces, and the cookers will set up shop anywhere; motels, in campers in parking lots, rental houses in YOUR neighborhood.
A lot of people complain about the inconvienience of signing for Sudafed, but do any of them have a better idea on how to deny Meth pre-cursor chemicals from criminals??
This is a very complex problem dealing with a horrible drug. Treatment alone is not the answer.
I think the question is whether these actions deprive the pre-cursor chemicals from the criminals. It makes it marginally more difficult on them, but on everyone else as well.
I have...some people like pseudofed as a cheap high since it "jazzes" you up when you should otherwise be sleeping off your cold. It is the main ingredient in most "non-drowsy" cold relief medicines.
It was the news articles and main posting that brought up pseudofed as a main ingredient for meth, as the reason's cited for attempts by states to curb pseudofed sales.
Here's a fact for you to chew on.
Here in Clark County, WA, a man was arraigned yesterday and is in jail on a $350,000.00 bond, because the other day, right after he shot up his Meth, he picked up his 13 month old illegitimate child, from the woman he was living with, stumbled, and fell on top of the baby.
He then put the bleeding, screaming, 13 month old baby in the crib, and allowed that child to suffer for 14 hours before paramedics were called. The baby died in the hospital the next day from overwhelming internal injuries.
So explain to me again how much of an inconvienience it is to get your Sudafed from behind the counter.
Making cheap Meth is NOT a victimless crime, and possession, manufacture, or use of Meth needs to be dealt with in the harshest possible way. Anything that can be done to restrict access to the pre-cursor chemicals is a good thing.
Period.
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