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Put Down the Cold Pills, Grandma, and Come Out With Your Hands Up
A few months ago, Sally Harpold bought a box of Zyrtec-D allergy medicine for her husband at a pharmacy in Rockville, Indiana. Less than a week later, she bought a box of Mucinex-D cold medicine for her adult daughter at a drugstore in Clinton. Isn't it sad that you already know where this story is headed?
Early on the morning of July 30, Harpold and her husband were awakened by police banging on the door of their home. The officers hauled her away in handcuffs, charging the "grandmother of triplets" (the Terre Haute Tribune-Star's descriptor) with a Class C misdemeanor, which carries a penalty of a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail. Harpold's mug shot appeared on the front page of the local paper, under the headline "17 Arrested in Drug Sweep." Her crime: buying more than three grams of pseudoephedrine, a decongestant that also happens to be a methamphetamine precursor, in a seven-day period. She was six-tenths of a gram over the legal limit in Indiana, which is much stingier than the maximum allowed by federal law (3.6 grams a day, nine grams a month). Harpold was not aware of the state limit, but as the Tribune-Review notes, "ignorance of the law is no excuse."
Marvel at the justification offered by Vigo County Sheriff Jon Marvel:
Sometimes mistakes happen. It's unfortunate. But for the good of everyone, the law was put into effect.
I feel for her, but if she could go to one of the area hospitals and see a baby born to a meth-addicted mother...
Note that the "mistakes" to which Marvel alludes do not involve arresting harmless grandmothers for innocuous purchases; they involve failing to keep track of exactly how much pseudoephedrine you're buying, lest you exceed the arbitrary ceiling established by anti-drug hysterics in the state capital. Also note Marvel's attempt to feed the meth-baby myth. Finally, there is no evidence to support his implication that arresting people for buying one box too many of decongestant pills reduces meth consumption. That does not mean the pseudoephedrine crackdown has not accomplished anything: It has increased business for Mexican meth traffickers, and it has driven explosive innovation in manufacturing techniques.
More on pseudoephedrine limits here.
Update: As a commenter notes, Radley Balko blogged this story on Monday, when I was busy apologizing for a year's worth of sins. Next year I should add "for the sin I committed in failing to keep abreast of the blog."
[Thanks to Mark Lambert for the tip.]
|9.30.09 @ 5:00PM|#
Pssst. Jacob.... Radley blogged about this a couple of days
ago.
It does, still, remain just as ridiculous and indefensible. I also
hope she sues the newspaper for defaming her.
EJM|9.30.09 @ 5:02PM|#
Radley blogged about this a couple of days ago.
FWIW, the post in question is here.
Tomcat1066|9.30.09 @ 5:04PM|#
"ignorance of the law is no excuse."
And this is the phrase that pisses me off the quickest. Laws are
written in verbose and incomprehensible language and at a rate
where no person can keep up with everything. Hell, even lawyers
have a hard time keeping up with every aspect of the law they
specialize it...and that's their jobs.
Instead, they create so many laws that it's impossible not to be
ignorant of some law and eventually run afoul of it. Then, you're a
criminal with no real defense because they've already decided that
it's not "an excuse". Especially something as innocuous as buying
cold medicine.
And yet, a cop can be ignorant of a law such as where a person can
legally carry a firearm and throw you to the ground because of your
lawfully carried firearm and that's excusable. After all,
they can't keep up with the laws (despite it being part of
their job since they enforce them), but you and I are expected
to.
Yeah, we're fucked as a people.
|9.30.09 @ 5:07PM|#
Sometimes mistakes happen. It's unfortunate. But for the good of everyone, the law was put into effect.
Hey you unthinking mental slug, please give me a list of the people
this fucking fiasco of legislation and enforcement was good
for.
Goddam, did they suck out some of your cerebrum at cop school or
were you always that deficient upstairs?
__________________________________________________________________
Just wait till one of his minions violates somebody's rights. Ya
think "the law" will be "put in effect" then?
|9.30.09 @ 5:08PM|#
In fairness,
the prosecutor did offer her a deal of paying court costs (no fine)
and a 30 day probation period where if she violates no laws, it all
goes away.
Pretty sweet deal for the cold medicine scofflaw, right?!
Way to use the prosecutorial discretion
|9.30.09 @ 5:14PM|#
Hey, I wonder how this grandma feels about the state of Indiana having a monopoly on the administration of justice in Hoosierland.
Nipplemancer|9.30.09 @ 5:18PM|#
any chemists/pharmacists know how much meth can be made from a
bottle of Zyrtec and a bottle of Mucinex? that is something i've
been dying to know since first hearing about this.
also, i wonder if that 3.6 grams is of pseudoephedrine or just of
the pills containing pse? from what i know of the two drugs in
question, pse doesn't seem to be the main active ingredient in
either.
|9.30.09 @ 5:27PM|#
At least this won't ever happen in California. Police there have way more time on their hands and will certainly use it double-checking themselves.
Paul|9.30.09 @ 5:54PM|#
Ahahahaaaaaahaaaa! And we think Medical Marijuana is the panacea
of progressive drug policy.
We've got SWAT raids for people buying Zyrtec, for
chrissakes!
Meter on my bet's still running.
Colonel_Angus|9.30.09 @ 5:59PM|#
"I feel for her, but if she could go to one of the area
hospitals and see a baby born to a meth-addicted mother... "
Oh yeah, thank you for arresting me, I now see the error of my
ways. Its my fault because I purchased a perfectly fucking legal
product and used it for legal purposes.
Shit is like the reverse of "Chewbacca lives on Endor".
Mister DNA|9.30.09 @ 6:00PM|#
I'm waiting for Juanita - or a passable imitation, at least - to weigh in on the subject.
|9.30.09 @ 6:02PM|#
when I was busy apologizing for a year's worth of
sins
And this is why i need to make sure all my favorite columnists are
either non-observant or atheists.
Left us jonsin' Jaccy, we need it bad baby.
Paul|9.30.09 @ 6:03PM|#
I'm waiting for Juanita - or a passable imitation, at
least
Juanita is an imitation.
|9.30.09 @ 6:06PM|#
As a commenter notes, Radley Balko blogged this story on
Monday, when I was busy apologizing for a year's worth of
sins.
So, Monday was a busy day, Jacob?
BakedPenguin|9.30.09 @ 6:09PM|#
Update: As a commenter notes, Radley Balko blogged this story on Monday
This story is so f*cking stupid it deserves to be told twice.
Indiana actually has a Libertarian party that's somewhat on the
ball, I hope they're trying to point out the stupidity of this to
the press.
Paul|9.30.09 @ 6:12PM|#
I hope they're trying to point out the stupidity of this to
the press.
*rubbing temples*
I know what the response is going to be, but I'm going to ask it
anyway: Why would the stupidity of this have to be pointed out to
the press? Shouldn't the press realize the stupidity of this story,
like, y'know, all on their own?
|9.30.09 @ 6:15PM|#
Indiana's laws on this stuff are particularly strict. I was visiting family in the state last Christmas, and since I was going to the drugstore anyway, my mother asked me to get her a box of cold medicine. It was kept behind the pharmacists' counter, and I had to hand over my driver's license and wait for 10 minutes while the pharmacist got a supervisor who entered me into a state database. Ridiculous.
EJM|9.30.09 @ 6:21PM|#
I'm waiting for Juanita - or a passable imitation, at least
- to weigh in on the subject.
It looks like she did comment in the
earlier thread.
Joe_D|9.30.09 @ 6:27PM|#
"how much meth can be made from a bottle of Zyrtec and a bottle
of Mucinex?"
If you could carry out the reaction with 100% efficiency, you could
theoretically get about 80% of the original mass of pseudoephedrine
in amphetamine (this is just the ratios of the molar masses of the
molecules).
I don't know how much meth is in a "dose" and I don't know how much
peudoephedrine is in a bottle of cold pills... but with that, you
could get a theoretical yield... then you'd need to figure out how
efficient your process is.
|9.30.09 @ 6:40PM|#
Why is this person described as a "grandmother"?
Would a grandmother be any less suspect than any other person,
regardless of reproductive success or failure?
Robert|9.30.09 @ 7:07PM|#
It would've been particularly dumb for her to have asked for a jury trial as suggested in a previous thread. If it'd gone to trial, she'd've had a much better chance with a judge.
Craig|9.30.09 @ 7:14PM|#
Fortunately, Sheriff Jon Marvel has to run for reelection.
Unfortunately, most voters will not hold an armed attack on a
peaceful citizen against him on election day.
Prosecutorial discretion? How about some police discretion, like
not arresting someone for buying two boxes of cold medicine in a
week? I don't think the law should even exist, but if it does, how
about waiting for someone to show a continued pattern before
hauling them away in irons?
Paul|9.30.09 @ 7:16PM|#
Would a grandmother be any less suspect than any other
person, regardless of reproductive success or failure?
Same reason "Union worker" is automatically downtrodden, abused,
underpaid and 'working class'.
Paul|9.30.09 @ 7:28PM|#
Harpold said she did go talk to the prosecutor about the situation, and Alexander offered her the deferral program, in which Harpold is required to pay the court costs, abide by all laws and not be arrested for 30 days. At the end of 30 days, the class-C misdemeanor will be erased from her record.
Aww, the prosecutor is all heart. It's time to resist this
shit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFS7oZtE8Ks
Rich|9.30.09 @ 8:15PM|#
Isn't it sad that you already know where this story is
headed?
Her dog gets shot by the cops?
|9.30.09 @ 10:14PM|#
"As a commenter notes, Radley Balko blogged this story on
Monday, when I was busy apologizing for a year's worth of sins.
Next year I should add 'for the sin I committed in failing to keep
abreast of the blog.'"
Jacob,
Even an apostate knows that Yom Kippur is for the atonement of sins
against Adonai. While Elohim does care about sins against the
readers of Hit and Run, you must seek the forgiveness of the
readers, not that of G-d.
I for one, forgive you. May your name be written in the Book of
Life.
zoltan|9.30.09 @ 10:56PM|#
Does anyone know why they're breaking into people's houses in the early morning for buying cold medicine? Even if this woman was a suspect who actually fit the bill, why are you SO STUPID to go in that time?!!? It's not like you can dispose of the meth lab in the toilet within the few minutes it takes to knock in the early afternoon.
Paul|9.30.09 @ 11:34PM|#
Apostate Jew:
Did you get your yarmulke knocked off in a shoving match at Hebrew
School?
Hacha Cha|10.1.09 @ 4:03AM|#
no one would use zyrtec or mucinex to get pseudoephedrine, that would require an extra extraction process. real cooks buy psuedoephedrine in bulk. you can also buy 100 count bottles of pseudoephedrine behind the counter for like $2 or 3. you get put on a database but the quantities allowed in my state are generous enough that a couple people could buy a legal quantity and get a decent amount. methcathinone is another stimulant that is even easier to synthesize from pseudoephedrine. they can do whatever they want to try and restrict cold meds, it isn't going to do shit. there are so many ways to make meth using different precursors. they will always have the ephedra plant as a source.
BakedPenguin|10.1.09 @ 8:26AM|#
Apostate Jew: If you're an apostate, why should he give a shit if you forgive him? Also, is he really going to trust your religious advice?
Shouldn't the press realize the stupidity of this story, like, y'know, all on their own?
Yep, they sure should. ... *crickets*
BakedPenguin|10.1.09 @ 8:32AM|#
Stupid no-blockquote tag upgrade.
Also, Hacha Cha, I was browsing the other night and came across a Chinese herb sales website. They had a list of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs (ginseng, et.al.).
As I scrolled down, I noticed they had a picture for "ma huang" which was now grayed out with a large note in red "not for sale". Apparently, someone at the DEA had been in touch with them.
Tim|10.1.09 @ 9:13AM|#
How about some police discretion, like not arresting someone for buying two boxes of cold medicine in a week? I don't think the law should even exist, but if it does, how about waiting for someone to show a continued pattern before hauling them away in irons?
What about someone with chronic allergies? How about a pattern of buying, and actual evidence of illegal use.
Tim|10.1.09 @ 9:15AM|#
"I feel for her, but if she could go to one of the area hospitals and see a baby born to a meth-addicted mother... "
Ok, and how does her buying .6 grams too much in a week, and using it for it's legal, intended purpose, have anything to do with that?
Tim|10.1.09 @ 9:21AM|#
"ignorance of the law is no excuse."
And how is it even humanly possible to know all of the several hundred thousand pages of federal, state and local laws, most of it written in "lawyerese" that only a lawyer could understand, much of it only an outline for the hundreds of thousands of pages from regulatory agencies, most of which is intentionally vague, requiring you to also know millions of pages of case law and regulatory court case law, most of it dealing with fairly innocuous, not obviously wrong, i.e. mallum prohibitum conduct, most of which is strict liability i.e with no mens rea requirement, only an unintentional violation of statute required for conviction.
Hacha Cha|10.1.09 @ 9:35AM|#
yeah the FDA threw a fit a few years back but ephedra is legal again, especially as a chinese medicine, but it is not to be used for weight loss. there are so many species in the Ephedra genus that there is no way they could ban even real ephedra if they wanted to. they all contain ephedrine and pseudoephedrine.
Hacha Cha|10.1.09 @ 9:38AM|#
one example of a different species of ephedra is Death Valley Ephedra also known as Mormon Tea. funny thing a friend of mine who sells plant extracts said to be careful selling ephedra tinctures as it might be considered precursor material for methamphetamine, whether or not anyone ever used it as a precursor.
|10.1.09 @ 10:13AM|#
If it were me getting arrested, I'd probably be so steamed about the whole damn thing I'd tell the prosecutor to shove that deal up his ass. But that's the problem: most of us have lives to live and other stuff to do; the prosecutor doesn't. It's no skin off his nose if you choose to fight.
Bill|10.1.09 @ 10:40AM|#
She broke the law and got punished, big deal, the law's the law. All states make their laws available both online and in the library, she should have known the law and obeyed it. Ignorance of the law is no excuse.
Hacha Cha|10.1.09 @ 11:42AM|#
uh no all states don't make their laws available to the public via internet and libraries. like PA for instance.
BradK|10.1.09 @ 2:04PM|#
On the upside, at least the incident didn't include a no-knock warrant served by a SWAT team bearing fully automatic weapons. And firing them.
You know, like they do in GA.
|10.12.09 @ 5:16AM|#
While I show my Drivers License and sign to buy Sudafed my next door neighbor unloads from his truck, in broad daylight, a large bundle of plastic wrapped "red pills". Also other pills and chemicals used to make Meth. We have been breathing the toxic fumes for over one year. The local police PROTECT the Drug Dealers. The DEA has done nothing. I think because the local police discredit me by saying I am just some crazy guy that has a grudge against our neighbors.
Jim Angleton|10.25.09 @ 11:15PM|#
Law Enforcement Against Prohibtion volunteers needed
http://bbvm.wordpress.com/2009.....rs-needed/
The Case for Legalising All Drugs Is Unanswerable
http://bbvm.wordpress.com/2009.....nswerable/
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