[Numbers Guy]

Last summer Schering-Plough took Chlor-Trimeton 12-hour off the market (the jerks). There was no announcement, I just couldn't find it. Great anti-histamine, worked far better for me than the "advanced" Claritin type stuff. So I drove around to various drug stores buying up the stuff so at least I'd have enough to last through the first killing frost.

At one place they had two 10-packs and two 24-packs, so I picked up all four. They said I could only buy two packages, not four, that was the new regulation. I said "so I could buy two 24-packs, but not two 10-packs and a 24-pack, even though 48 is more than 44?" "Yes, that's our rules. We are trying to combat the meth labs." Given that I was in a suit and wasn't wearing a mullet and didn't have hollow sunken eyes, I was a bit nonplussed.

So I bought the two 24-packs and came back the next day and bought the other two. I can only imagine what a hassle it will be when they make one sign their name each and every time one buys a pack of antihistamines. Geez.

[DBrow]

I don't think they took Chlor-trimeton off the market because of WOsD. They already took phenylpropanolamine off the market and they are trying to restrict pseudoephedrine, because they can be used to make Schedule 1 dope.

But Chlor-trimeton is not a chemical that can be used in a tweeker lab recipe.

It's probably competition from Claritin and Alavert et al, in short, a business decision.

I do expect the war on pseudoephedrine to escalate sharply, though. That and anhydrous ammonia, blueprint operation where I work used to get tanks of anhydrous ammonia for some print process and now the DEA wants record keeping of each drop of anhydrous. They switched to another printmaking process rather than face endless scrutiny.

[CARDINALRULES]

After our Sheriff's deputy was killed 2 years ago while investigating a double homicide, our Wal-Mart had it where you had to get it from the pharmacy and sign for it.

[lonevoice]

I hear ya. I can no longer find SineAid anywhere. It's the only non-prescription med that ever helped my occasional debilitating sinus headaches. I had no idea what had happened to SineAid until I learned it had pseudophedrine in it.