New at Reason

Julian Sanchez | November 23, 2005

Jacob Sullum wishes legislators could distinguish between a snort of meth and a sniffle.

Comments

|11.23.05 @ 10:07AM|#

Restricting retail access to pseudoephedrine may shift production away from small local labs and toward the big-time meth makers who already account for most of the supply...

Will nobody in Congress stand up for America's small businesses?

Geoff Nathan|11.23.05 @ 10:20AM|#

It's rare that a Hit and Run posting makes me so angry I can feel the adrenaline rush, but reading the article in the New York Times that Jacob referenced had just that effect--a self-righteous prosecutor with no tolerance for people from other countries and an anti-drug culture that excuses any kind of abuse of its citizens--arghhh!

|11.23.05 @ 11:12AM|#

Jeebus, people. What the hell is wrong with cops? The incident with the 49 clerks and owners reads like something out of Reno 911 or something. If you saw it in a movie or sitcom, you would just laugh, but this makes me want to cry! What a waste of taxpayer's (and these clerks and owners time and) money.

|11.23.05 @ 11:23AM|#

Isn't Warner the recently elected Dem? (As opposed to the ex- Mr. Liz Taylor.) Naive me for assuming he'd be a good guy, or at least play up his non-Repug-ness once in office. Feinstein, after all. (What a victory for women's lib to have two bad female senators in my state.)

I'm glad I don't have allergies and never get sick. Hey, don't hate me -- I've got enough other health problems to compensate.

Sandy|11.23.05 @ 11:24AM|#

Warner is the outgoing dem who would like to challenge Hillary for the nomination. He's probably still better, but...ugh.

|11.23.05 @ 11:24AM|#

I'd set the odds at 3/2 that at least a few get convicted. That's what happens when you define the law too narrowly.


I like to know how many people are clamoring for these restrictions? The consensus among people I speak with, (random strangers at the store and pharmacists) is that the whole thing is stupid. I know it's not enough for a representative sample, but still, I haven't met a person who thinks it's a good idea yet.

|11.23.05 @ 12:39PM|#

WRT, the sniffles: why is Claratin so expensive and Allegra only available by persciption ?

|11.23.05 @ 12:53PM|#

Fear not!

You can make pseudoephedrine from meth!

|11.23.05 @ 1:15PM|#

Thank you so much for this article. I'm so pissed every time I have to show ID to buy Sudafed for my allergies. I've even considered getting a fake ID with the name "Rusty Shakleford".

Larry A|11.23.05 @ 1:31PM|#

I like to know how many people are clamoring for these restrictions?

From the Russian story above: "I would like to emphasize that the drafts of the proposed documents reflect the opinion and the mood of wide masses, of the party and Soviet organs, and of public organizations."

|11.23.05 @ 1:31PM|#

North Dakota (where I live) was one of the first states to enact this silly legislation. Most distressing was the bland acceptance of many locals, especially the older ones. Whoever called this place a bastion of "rugged individualism" obviously hasn't visited the place in the last century or so...

|11.23.05 @ 1:44PM|#

I've even considered getting a fake ID with the name "Rusty Shakleford".

&!*$^-

|11.23.05 @ 2:54PM|#

Poco,

You said "Isn't Warner the recently elected Dem? (As opposed to the ex- Mr. Liz Taylor.) Naive me for assuming he'd be a good guy"

The democrats are just as bad on the drug war and civil liberties as the republicans are. But for some reason lots of people naively assume they are better in these areas.

For an improvement to happen democratic voters need to demand their candidates to do a better job on civil liberties and the drug war.

|11.23.05 @ 6:27PM|#

Yeah, yeah, I know. I was just thinking that if anyone bucks the trend, it'll be a Dem. Maybe I should be looking towards the horizon for a maverick non-Moral Majority Republican -- they still make those?

|11.24.05 @ 2:25AM|#

Well, here in Phoenix we've had a noticable diminishing in the number of methheads since the drugstores starting making it a hassle to buy sudafed -- NO, I'M JUST KIDDING! THEY'RE STILL SHIPPING METH IN FROM MEXICO BY THE TRUCKLOAD! THE STREETS ARE STILL INHABITED BY VAMPIRES AND ZOMBIES ALL NIGHT LONG!

But now I have to go to an all-night drugstore and hope the pharmacist is on duty if I get a goddamn sinus headache. You'd think the public schools were running this deal, it's so fucked up.