How far is too far?
I've never been a fan of the drug war. More domestic atrocities have been done in its name than about any other horrid, government-caused program or movement. Eventually prohibition ended, Asians were released from internment camps, slaves were freed, the Indians got their casino licenses, black people used as medical guinea pigs got some reparations, and so on. All of these are still shameful episodes in our history, but at least they're over.
The drug war just continues to metastasize.
The latest development is that pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) is now a controlled substance, not because of its inherent properties, but because you can make methamphetamine using it as one of the ingredients.
As of Sept., you're gonna have to register with the FBI via your drugstore to get it.
Folks, it's a freakin' antihistamine. And a good one. But now, it's illegal just because you can turn it in to something illegal.
I just keep marveling at how stupid things continue to get due to the drug war. Hell, even pacifiers are now suspect because meth users use them to guard against grinding their teeth.
How come dirt isn't illegal? It can be used to grow all sorts of drugs, you know.
2 comments:
The other day I was at Wal-Mart, and had to ask the pharmacist if they carried uncoated aspirin. "Are you sure you don't want the coating?" "I'm not sure, is the coating chemically reactive? I'd really prefer the pure aspirin if I can find it, just in case." He glanced into my basket, which held a gallon of ammonia solution (lemon-scented) and four bottles of hydrogen peroxide. I suddenly felt constrained to explain that I needed to be able to grind up the aspirin for my daughter's chemistry experiments, and toyed briefly with asking him where the gardening department was so I could buy a few bags of nitrate-heavy fertilizer. And the detonators, would those be in housewares?
Fortunately he was a cool elderly guy who sent his lackey to go hunt down a large bottle of uncoated aspirin, and meanwhile launched into a diatribe against the Big Corporate Pharmacy Suppliers who wouldn't let him carry pure chemicals anymore, and how much better the world was when kids could go buy supplies at the pharmacist and mix chemicals in their mom's kitchens.
I made it out the door without being grabbed by security.
And you were lucky, particularly since it was Walmart.
I was trying to get advice from the pharmacist at another store on what my wife can take for her cold since she's nursing. It came down to Sudafed being pretty much it, but in the midst of that discussion, the pharmacist said, through gritted teeth, that people "abused" Sudafed, so he implicitly agreed with the crackdown.
Dear God, so even some pharmacists have sampled the koolaid.
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