Replies

Here's some exceprts:

Tough Restrictions On Cold Medicines Become Law

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. ( AP ) -- Some of the nation's toughest restrictions on the retail display and sale of certain cold and allergy medicines were signed into Missouri law Tuesday in an attempt to crack down on methamphetamine production. The legislation targets over-the-counter medications containing pseudoephedrine, a decongestant that is also a key ingredient in making the highly addictive and illegal stimulant methamphetamine.

Under the retail display law, medicines with pseudoephedrine as the sole active ingredient would have to be kept behind a counter or within 10 feet of a cashier, or be tagged with electronic anti-theft devices. One such medicine is the brand-name decongestant Sudafed.

There also will be limits on how much pseudoephedrine could be bought in a single transaction.

A maximum of two packages, or 6 grams, of medicine with pseudoephedrine as the sole active ingredient could be bought at one time. For medicines containing pseudoephedrine plus other active ingredients, the single-purchase maximum would be three packages, or 9 grams.

Those provisions also would be among the toughest in the nation. North Dakota enacted a two-package limit on pseudoephedrine medicines earlier this year and prohibited sales to anyone younger than 18.

Great -- Mr. Ellery and I stocked up on sinus medication a few weeks ago for our recent vacation (we both get crazy allergies in the fall). So when PA gets one of these laws, I'll have to make two trips to the store next time we need to stock up? It won't stop meth producers, but boy will it increase the time and gas spent on controlling our allergies. Forcing people to make extra trips is a great way to decrease our reliance on foreign oil, by the way.

The legislation targets over-the-counter medications containing pseudoephedrine, a decongestant that is also a key ingredient in making the highly addictive and illegal stimulant methamphetamine.

Exactly when did some brilliant mind come up with a way to change the laws of chemistry? Methamphetamine indeed....