Meth-makers getting around restrictions

The rise of heroin use and the abuse of prescription drugs steal the headlines now, but Ohio law officers say a drug that reached nearly epidemic levels in Ohio a few years ago is regaining popularity.

[Observer]

This will be at additional cost to the people who really need the medicine because the doctirs will of course charge a $50 office call. May be the pills can be given out at the doctors office for free with an office call. the comsumer get these instead of going to the doctor to avoid the high cost of a doctors visit.

[brat]

great plan - someone create, quickly, the commission, and every state pharmacy can fax the data to me for input into a centralized database. once that's current, every transaction goes in it at POS. meanwhile, it creates a job for me.

[Glad I left]

Leave Ohio while you can. The place sucks.

[READER]

It makes me mad that I have to show my ID to get medicine for seasonal allergies. I can't believe people actually use this stuff. People who use it look horrible!

Michael Douglas' son was just arrested last week for selling it. According to reports, he was a big time drug seller in the NYC area, and faces about a minimum of 10 years in jail.

[Charge]

What are signs neighbors are to be on the look out?

[FormerTribeFan]

I hate having to show my ID to get cold relief medicine. I am not sure how effective it is in its current form as a hardcopy local register. An electronically searchable database would be better, but raises some privacy concerns...

[Riley King]

I find it interesting the Executive Director of the Ohio Pharmacists Association doesnt want to track these sales. I havent been to a store in five years that didnt ask for my phone number or zip code so they can conduct marketing studies. Take that same information and hit one additional button and it goes into a database that will actually do something to curtail this problem.
Sounds like politics again to me.

[Dave]

Glad I left wrote:

Leave Ohio while you can. The place sucks.

^funny... and CA is in a lot better shape with the Governator? Hows the taxing marijuana and Government IOU's working for u?

[Dean]

Someone living off the taxpayer (an employee/bureaucrat) has the power to determine what an individual ingests.

Since the state has this power, rather than the individual, it's the definition of slavery.

And brought to you by both Republicans and Democrats.

[Eric]

Good point Dean, looks like we'll keep trying to keep people "clean" till we finally can't afford to jail them, or maybe we'll just get everyone into jail. I think we'll go broke first.

[keyholes]

Why is it these stories turn into an Ohio bashing forum? Meth production is a problem all over the US. Instead of punishing the innocent consumer buying pseudoephedrine for allergies or cold remedies, we need to go after these idiots cooking dope in unsafe, unlawful labs. I don't see where they can be given for free at a doc's office...pharmaceutical sales people only leave samples at your doc's office for stuff they can make a profit on. There's no profit in providing it for free. Pseudoephedrine is becoming a controlled substance like tobacco, alcohol, and prescription drugs because of fools who look like they're at death's door, making a huge profit off of a cheap OTC remedy and the price of a few cheap household chemicals while destroying a property. I suspect the local enforcement can't get a hold of those marketing databases from retailers because of privacy laws, although the aggregate data that shows patterns of pseudoephedrine being sold might be of some interest but most like it may not show significant patterns. Since it's controlled, these jerks hop around and buy it in small quantities using a number of people.

See http://www.kci.org/meth_info/neighborhood_lab...

[Darryl]

Lethal Injections for all tried and convicted Meth producers would GREATLY reduce the number of people willing to take the risks. Plug Ol' Sparky back in to make an even greater impact.
It's just like raising a child, you make the punishment more painful than they're willing to endure and the behavior WILL stop, guaranteed.

[sparky]

Darryl wrote:

Lethal Injections for all tried and convicted Meth producers would GREATLY reduce the number of people willing to take the risks. Plug Ol' Sparky back in to make an even greater impact.
It's just like raising a child, you make the punishment more painful than they're willing to endure and the behavior WILL stop, guaranteed.

Dont people still have rights? Why not spend the money educating people and treating addicts. The taxpayer is paying the bill either way, just changes if law enforcement or medicine gets the check.

[JohnGalt]

In other words, this law hasn't worked and only punishes pharmacies and law-abiding consumers.

In 2005 Radley Balko wrote, "even the government's own data suggests that these laws won’t work, and won't significantly curb the supply of meth or its use."

Making pseudophedrine a controlled substance is patently absurd. Why not do the same for alcohol? Want a beer? Go see your PCP and get a prescription. After all, alcohol is one of the most destructive drugs in our society and you don't even need a "meth lab".

The war on drugs has been and continues to be folly.

[keyholes]

JohnGalt wrote:

In other words, this law hasn't worked and only punishes pharmacies and law-abiding consumers.

Agreed. I would hate to need to obtain a prescription for freaking Sudafed. And other substances are being controlled because of it. Did anyone realize that Red Devil lye is no longer produced?(It used to be a common household product for clearing drains. I've bought it for a soap-making hobby.) Lye was/is a component of meth. Drano can also be used. So are we going to start controlling other every other type of household retail products? Still, with the "war on drugs" we ought to be prosecuting these skanks with current laws. Many of them are breaking laws (dealing illegal substances, environmental laws). While the war on drugs is pretty lame, we can be using existing laws to get rid of this particularly nasty form of idiocy.(Meth houses have a strong tendency towards explosions due to the nature of making the drug. The mess, smell, and nastiness of the "labs" also destroy property.)

[keyholes]

sparky wrote:

<quoted text>
Dont people still have rights? Why not spend the money educating people and treating addicts. The taxpayer is paying the bill either way, just changes if law enforcement or medicine gets the check.

As long as there is supply, there will be addicts. While I don't agree that Sudafed needs to be a prescription substance, treating an addict isn't going to stop the production. Addicts have plenty of treatment options available to them already if they just put their crack pipes down long enough to walk in the doors.

[Dean]

1) For there to be a crime there has to be a victim.

2) The Purpose of government: To protect my inalienable rights, i.e., my liberty and freedom.

3) It's amazing the number of "busybodies" in the world who want to force others to accept their views.

4) The impossible - to know who is getting a government check who post on these websites and have a conflict in the obvious side they take.

[Tired]

JohnGalt wrote:

In other words, this law hasn't worked and only punishes pharmacies and law-abiding consumers.
In 2005 Radley Balko wrote, "even the government's own data suggests that these laws won’t work, and won't significantly curb the supply of meth or its use."
Making pseudophedrine a controlled substance is patently absurd. Why not do the same for alcohol? Want a beer? Go see your PCP and get a prescription. After all, alcohol is one of the most destructive drugs in our society and you don't even need a "meth lab".
The war on drugs has been and continues to be folly.

I agree totally! We law abiding citizens go through nine kinds of crap to get the meds we need.... but the people making this crap seem to have an unendless supply. Why should we have to pay for the higher cost due to people abusing it. It's like all other over the counter meds that these people are abusing. No matter what they're going to get what they want, if they want to kill themselves let them!!!!!

[keyholes]

Dean wrote:

1) For there to be a crime there has to be a victim.
2) The Purpose of government: To protect my inalienable rights, i.e., my liberty and freedom.
3) It's amazing the number of "busybodies" in the world who want to force others to accept their views.
4) The impossible - to know who is getting a government check who post on these websites and have a conflict in the obvious side they take.

Also impossible: arguing with someone out to insult and slam with the basis of "my freedom, my liberty" thinking that his or her own idea of "freedom and liberty" are the defining notions.

Also amazing: the number of people who love to stereotype without thoughtful and insightful analysis of a situation and make ASSumptions.

Running a meth lab is a crime. I'm a victim and you're a victim of decreased property values, paying for the meth head's kids who are born addicted, etc. Ever seen an explosion from a meth house? Nasty and it definitely is an environmental problem--you want to be living in the proximity of a place that actually requires a bio-cleaning firm to come in after the explosion. All one needs to do is drive through Dayton or Xenia, it doesn't take long to figure it out. Where are you living? Disneyland where all is perfect and happy?

Oy vey. The war on drugs hasn't been successful and controlling Sudafed is patently unfair to consumers. Still, I don't get the knee-jerk reactions and stupid, unthoughtful reactions on this forum at times, like the insane assumptions that someone is getting a government check or infringing on another's personal liberties simply because they challenge an idea or a thought? Good gawd, I thought that's what Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, etc. all did....or isn't thinking required any longer?

[robin]

what makes you think that making it a prescription drug will control it? you stated right in the first sentence that prescription drugs are a problem (and getting press right now.) having a prescription doesn't keep people form getting ahold of what they want. if they want it badly enough, they'll get it.