Free Sudafed!
Posted on 03/15/2006 12:23:27 AM PST by freepatriot32
The War on Drugs has now been extended to the counter of your local pharmacy. Buried in the Patriot Act renewal bill that passed this week are provisions that would impose new restrictions on purchasing medicines that contain pseudoephedrine.
Many cold and allergy medications contain the chemical pseudoephedrine which is used to as an ingredient to manufacture methamphetamine.
In typical, heavy-handed fashion, Congress is placing limits on how much medicine containing pseudoephedrine one person can buy during a given time period. The purchase limits would go into effect 30 days after the president signs the bill. A person would be limited to buying 300, 30-mg pills in a month or 120 such pills in a day, USA Today reported.
To further inconvenience buyers of cold medicine, these anti-meth provisions would move the pseudoephedrine products behind the counter and beginning Sept. 30 an ID will be required to buy those products.
There is evidence this misguided government initiative will have little effect in the availability of street methamphetamine. The federal government likes to think they are conducting a major crackdown on meth producers in the United States, but fail to realize that a major portion of America's supply of street methamphetamine comes from "superlabs" located in Mexico.
These Mexican "superlabs", according to Greg Garner from the Cato Institute, smuggle pseudoephedrine in bulk from Mexico and Canada, thereby bypassing pharmacies altogether.
These anti-meth provisions in the Patriot Act renewal bill will make it harder for law-abiding citizens to buy cold medication, while making the national meth problem worse.
Garner explains by saying, "They'll put recreational meth users into more frequent contact with smugglers and traffickers, likely sparking increases in black market violence."
Uhhh, last I heard, we haven't made much progress in stopping that at all.
Oh gee, that makes me feel so much better.
If your solution to the meth problem is more government intervention in private industry through locking up the ingredients and limiting their sale instead of locking up the lawbreakers, it is to be devoutly hoped nobody starts huffing gas.
I think in Florida and California, only OJ Simpson is required to register his knives and killer cellphones. :)
I agree, that when you are sick and miserable anyway, this is no fun. I think the bad guys found a way to take advantage when this stuff was left over the counter and these steps are being taken because it really has become a problem, as glue and spray cans had.
I do know it is tough to be on a line while sick though.
As I have said before, if there were a few people agreeing to live in an island with no laws where anything goes, that might work because of mutual agreement and low numbers that could be affected.
We are in a packed society, so you are going to get lots of laws whose purpose is to make this safer and to optimize your freedom, but to also give equal levels of freedoms to others.
I do think the laws should regularly be looked at and adapted or removed when not needed. For instance, if maggot infested liberal druggies stopped making meth with over the counter stuff the next few years, then this law should go away again.
The number of clandestine methamphetamine labs busted up by Iowa law enforcement agencies last month plummeted 90 percent compared with July 2004, state officials said Monday. They credited the state's new, tougher anti-meth law that took effect in late May. The tougher law limits access to pseudoephedrine, a main ingredient in meth found in many cold medicines."
"The number of methamphetamine labs seized by police in Virginia has decreased by two-thirds since the state restricted access to one of the drug's key ingredients."
"Prior to the passage of this law on April 7, 2004, labs were seized in Oklahoma at the rate of 92 per month. After the passage of the law, the number of labs seized began decreasing each month and by August 2004, only 32 labs were seized. These figures show a 56% reduction in the number of seized meth labs in the five month period following the passage of the law."
Et cetera.
You must be speaking from experience. Certainly sounds like it affected you in a negative way.
Yes about 50 percent of the freepers even after the other 50 percent started pointing to the instances that the patriot act was used against everyone but the terrorist(for just a very tiny sample of those cases go here http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1588149/posts?page=12#12) they all buried there head in the sand and said it was just an anomaly and wouldnt happen very much.
Well heres something else burried in the 1984 on acid wish list
Patriot Act E-Mail Searches Apply to Non-Terrorists, Judges Say
Name a drug that hasn't had the same history. Every drug has its victims. However, it is to the benefit of society to use medical drugs because they cure more than harm. There is no drug that is 100% safe for everyone.
Guess you'll have to instead go to the 24 hour Walgreens.
I'm not addicted to any. I don't know why you draw that conclusion. Just because I believe that there are drugs on the market that help a lot of people and I don't want to see them taken off because SOMEBODY had side effects or died from them doesn't mean I am addicted to drugs.
You are the first person I have ever heard make the claim that aspirin is a natural remedy. Has anyone ever died or had side effects from aspirin? I would venture to say that I am sure there have been. Therefore, in your opinion we should ban aspirin. You make it sound like I am the looney. The finger should be pointing back at you.
As I said here
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1587294/posts?page=196#196
A little cut & paste
You must remember there is a heavy infestation of party (both sides), government, alphabet soup agencies & Zion Zealot, Spin doctors and poll pushers on FR. Specially
after 911 and really during & after the 04 election.
You can read the old FR threads and see the difference.
I Don’t know. Some months back on the news. They said it was now useless.
There should also be some FR threads floating around on this too.
Aspirin is a naturally occurring product derived from plants. Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine were the drugs I was referring to. (the ones used to produce speed) I understand your position that this is just more Gov. control over our lives but, the decision to control these drugs is a good one.
In your opinion, of course. In my opinion all it does is raise the cost of these medicines. Is it going to stop the production of meth? I certainly doubt it. All the govt had to do was limit the quantity at purchase to one. If meth makers want to drive hither and thither to get enough to produce meth then let them. They will make it whether cold medicines are on the market or not.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.