Cold medicine now "behind the counter" in Texas (1 Viewer)

[Kyle McKnight]

Just saw on the news this morning...effective today, any cold medicine that contains ephedrine or psuedoephedrine is now to be kept behind the pharmacy counter. To buy any you have to talk to the pharmacist, plus they log who you are and what you buy. They also said that you can only buy like two packages at a time...so no more keeping a stockpile without making multiple trips to different stores.

This is supposed to cut down on people making methamphetamines from cold medicine.

I don't take cold medicine so this doesn't have an effect on me right now...this would annoy the hell out of me if I did though.

 

[Tim Hoover]

Meth is pretty prevalent around here, so they've been doing this for a while now...when I made my last trip for allergy meds, I had to show ID when I purchased my box of Tylenol allergy/sinus, and could only buy two boxes at one time.

 

[Mark Murphy]

I guess they believe they can curb the production of Crystal Meth by restricting the availability of one of the major ingredients. I don't think it will work but thats why we elect lawmakers.

I'm allergic to anything ephedrine so this won't affect me but its too bad that the government has to make OTC drugs BTC (behind the counter).

 

[BrianB]

Texas is following the lead of Oklahoma in this case.

 

[Mark Murphy]

Meth hasn't really caught on here yet. OCs and Heroin are still the major problem drugs but I'm sure its a matter of time before Meth does make its presence felt.

 

[Citizen87645]

You think BTC is bad?

http://www.katu.com/health/story.asp?ID=78646

 

[Phil_L]

Not sure if Meth has caught in RI or MA yet either Mark, but every CVS i enter in either state has put such products behind the counter. The minor inconvenience to me is well worth it. From what I understand, meth is quite a scourge on the lives of everyone around it.

 

[Jay Taylor]

In Oklahoma the number of meth labs have dropped approximately in half after our version of this law was passed. You can still buy ephedrine or psuedoephedrine products at the drug store behind the counter.

This is an inconvenience that most of us have no problem living with considering the dramatic reduction in meth labs.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Jefferson county is the meth-lab capital of NY!

But I'm a traditionalist, so I'll stick to cheap booze.

 

[Kyle McKnight]

I guess I've just never been around a "meth area"...

 

[D. Scott MacDonald]

Meth labs are scary. My sister rented her house out to a lady, and then eventually the lady wanted to buy it so my sister sold it to her. About a week after closing, a meth lab was discovered in the house. My sister dodged a serious bullet here. Had she still owned the house, she would have had to pay serious bucks to clean it up, or possibly would have had to rebuild the house.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

They look like normal trailer parks except for the occassional burned-out shell of a single wide.

 

[ChrisMatson]

The full article is available here.

 

[ChrisMatson]

Another reason to get tough on meth:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8769919/site/newsweek/

I don't have any problem with signing a log book at a pharmacy, but Oregon's law requiring a prescription for cold medicine is perhaps too strict.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Isn't this easily overcome by stopping at each of the 15 drug stores every town seems to have now?

 

[ChrisMatson]

Yes.
Iowa wants to start a state-wide database of pseudoephedrine purchases to keep track of this.
There is a struggle to ensure protection of privacy while clamping down on an epidemic.
I think a national database is a good idea.

 

[David Williams]

It was actually more impressive that that. We had a 80% decrease in meth lab busts in the first year of the program.

I used to live in Sallisaw, pop. just under 9000, which had the second-highest crime rate in the state (OKC was #1), almost all of it due to drugs and arrests made on the mule corridor of 1-40, which bisects the southside of the city. In fact, at my old apt complex a meth lab was found 6 doors down, completely by accident, by a DHS worker making a surprise home visit. I was never so happy to move out of that hellhole of a town, I tell you.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

That assumes the meth producers actually pay for their Sudafed. Don't forget the "behind the counter" status is not just to keep a record of purchases, it's to keep it from becoming eligible for the ol' "five finger discount".

The Northeast is not even a big meth area, but I've heard stories of shoplifters clearing out entire racks of cold medicine blister packs from supermarkets and drug stores around here.

 

[Jay Taylor]

As I recall from the news reports on pharmacies being busted for selling massive amounts of pseudoephedrine, they were selling hundreds or even thousands of boxes of the stuff to their "clients". I doubt if it's worth it to the meth lab producers to buy two boxes at a time.

Regardless of our opinion of the law the statistics speak for themselves. Pass the law and the number of meth labs in your state will be drastically reduced.

 

[Chris Lockwood]