Stupid Drug Regulations

It would seem that the law enforcement agencies are so fucking incompetent that they must now rely on people with illnesses to do their jobs for them.

A few years ago, the feds passed a law restricting the disbursement of OTC medications containing pseudoephedrine (such as Sudafed). They limit the amount you can buy at one time. You must get it from a pharmacist, present identification, and fill out a form. It's a real pain in the ass for people who suffer from allergies and depend on this medication.

The reasoning was that Sudafed was bought in large quantities by meth suppliers, as pseudoephedrine is a precursor for meth. After the law went into effect, the supply of meth from Mexico increased greatly (Mexico has long been buying meth precursors by the ton from China). Meth is now flowing across the border, is cheaper, is of much higher purity, and just as easy for meth heads to purchase as in the past.

Result: No one is inconvenienced except for those regular people who buy small amounts of the medication for its intended purpose.

Now, the feds have changed the definition of drugs which contain small amounts of hydrocodone, such as Vicodin.

A user of these meds must now got into the pharmacy and present a hand-written prescription from a doctor. Doctors are no longer able to simply fax the prescription to the pharmacy. Refills of the prescription are no longer allowed, so someone who depends on this drug for pain relief must get a new hand-written prescription from the doctor every month.

For those of us who depend on the stuff for pain relief, it can be a giant hassle. I used to just go on the internet to the pharmacy's web site and request a refill. If necessary, the pharmacy sent an email to the doctor's office, and they sent back a fax for a refill. My wife stopped on the way home and picked it up when she picked up her prescription (some innocuous drug she has been taking every day since she was a child; something to do with her adrenal glands). Total time I spent: 2 minutes.

Under the new regulations, because of logistics, it will take me around two hours each month to refill the prescription. In a year, that's nearly two days of waking time wasted. And about sixty gallons of gasoline.

The feds really think that this will reduce the recreational use of drugs containing hydrocodone. In reality, heroin is more effective and cheaper on the street than is Vicodin. My perception is that this new regulation will have the effect of recreational users switching from Vicodin to heroin. Hell, that's what I would do in that situation. Seems like the rational solution for recreational users of the drug.

Stupid feds!

Don't try to fool us. You're building a meth lab in your basement aren't you.

No. I added on a "store room" for that.

I just think that the police agencies should do their god damn jobs instead of causing so much hassle for millions of people.

But law abiding citizens are so much easier to catch than criminals.

My mom just got that letter.
She's on a fixed income and the extra gas is going to be felt. So is the time and pain it will take to go and get the script and get it filled.

I, on the other hand, desperately need narcotics and can't get them, so my answer to everyone is that they should be glad they can still get the help they need.
Somehow I feel like if my doc had a torch held to his thigh, the way mine feels, he would all of a sudden understand my pain level.

Mom says the doc said it will get worse in the future. Those who need the meds will be funneled into the "pain management clinics", which of course your insurance may or may not pay for.

Your mom has my sympathy, Jenni.

In Mississippi, you have to have a prescription just to buy decongestants that contain pseudo. It's even illegal to bring Sudafed into the state.

Here's an interesting article about Sudafed in Mississippi and Alabama. Holy Shit!

_Howard wrote:

Your mom has my sympathy, Jenni.

In Mississippi, you have to have a prescription just to buy decongestants that contain pseudo. It's even illegal to bring Sudafed into the state.

Here's an interesting article about Sudafed in Mississippi and Alabama. Holy Shit!

I'm aware of the case. I actually know her through an ice skating friend of my daughter. Not well, mind you, but I do know her and she is not a criminal, by any stretch of the imagination.

As an allergy and asthma sufferer I used those products all the time. In fact, I'd often have to switch as I built a tolerance to one or the other. In the last 10 years or so before it was all illegal I started taking "mini thins" which are made of ephedrine. They were about 35 a month as compared to an inhaler that cost 163 and might kill me. Also, the side effects of the mini thins were tolerable as compared to the deadly inhaler. They started cracking down on them then took them away all together. I have never lived in the constant sniffling and coughing that I have lived with the last few years. It's horrible. It's like Chinese water torture. I cough all day every day, there is never an end to it. But of course if I wanted crack or coke or something I could drive right over to Valley St. and get it.


What really amazes me is that these are the same people who holler smaller government and would never tolerate limits on weapons or bullets. I end up with the opinion that Republicans are simply liars. They aren't for small government at all. I always wondered because we liberals don't actually want a nanny state- I always wondered where they got that claim- now I know. It's sheer projection. It's what they want- they want a nanny state to watch them and be sure they don't do drugs or have outrageous sex and they go to church- it totally makes sense when viewed in that light.


PS I strongly disagree with the author's assertion that "yet you can walk into any drugstore and obtain the “morning after” pill". That's actually not true here.

Bet you can buy guns & ammo at Walmart though.

Lot safer for the community than decongestants.

NoCoPilot wrote:

Bet you can buy guns & ammo at Walmart though.

Lot safer for the community than decongestants.

"Okay! Hold it right there, buddy.
I've got a capsule and I'm not afraid to use it."