Posted on 12/23/2006 1:37:38 PM PST by neverdem
Last month, President Bush declared Nov. 30 "National Methamphetamine Awareness Day."
The official statement from the White House implored, "I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate programs and activities."
There's no question that meth is a particularly nasty, vicious drug, both in how it's manufactured and in what it does to the people who use it. I think some skeptics have raised legitimate questions about the accuracy of some of the more hysterical media proclaiming we're in the midst of an "epidemic," but there's no question that the drug is widely available, and that it has some pretty terrible effects on users.
That said, the approaches the government is taking toward attacking meth don't make much sense.
As is often the case with policies aimed at curbing the drug supply, civil liberties were one of the first casualties of the meth hysteria. Several cities and states, for example, quickly made it illegal for businesses to sell customers combinations of ingredients that together, are used to make meth, but that are perfectly legal if bought separately.
Sell bhutane, cold medicine, and matches to the same customer, and an unknowing store clerk could well be arrested. These laws effectively deputized private business to begin policing the shopping habits of their customers – never a good idea.
The idea has led to some horrific outcomes.
In Northwest Georgia, for example, a meth sting ended with the arrest of 49 convenience store clerks for violating the odd new law. The problem is that 47 of the clerks were of Indian decent, and spoke only broken English. When undercover police officers tossed out drug lingo like "cooking up a hit," the clerks had no idea what they were talking about.
More troubling,...
(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...
There's nothing I love more than going out at 11:00pm for cold supplies because I can't breathe enought to sleep and not being able to buy Sudafed, because the pharmacy is closed.
Is this a paid holiday or not??
Jeesh
FMCDH(BITS)
My favorite encounter was expressing my outrage to a Walmart clerk about having to provide picture ID and sign for cold pills but I could go over and buy disposable phones used to trigger IED's without even a second glance from the clerk. In hindsight, I'm lucky I wasn't arrested.
National methamphetamine awareness day. That'll fix it.
Don't worry, the new Sudafed is not made with pseudoepinephrine. Doesn't work as well as the old, either.
I know. The new, improved, ***NOW 54% MORE POLITICALLY CORRECT*** NyQuil sucks as well.
not quite. I think we need a blue ribbon committee first to really take care of the problem.
I think I have a few pre-ban sudafed left.
"not quite. I think we need a blue ribbon committee first to really take care of the problem."
Perhaps the Iraq Study Group could tackle this problem as well.......
I got some white ribbon they can have. Doesn't smell real good, but they can have it.
I got some white ribbon they can have. Doesn't smell real good, but they can have it.
It will be as soon as Hallmark comes out with a card ;-)
The cold medicine laws are absolutely ASSININE.
Thanks to such idiotic feel-good laws I have to waste a bunch of gas when I need sudafed because the local supermarket doesn't have a pharmacy and the nearest one is 15 miles away. IDIOTS.
"My favorite encounter was expressing my outrage to a Walmart clerk..."
Like the clerk made the rule/law? It is their job to follow rules/laws.
And apparently your job is to "express outrage" with minimum wage clerks.
These meth laws are all for your own good and for the children. Meth could happen to anybody at any time. You could be walking down the street and blam-o, suddenly you're a meth addict with no teeth. Do you really want this to happen to your kids? Without the laws, it would all be because the government just didn't care enough.
I've seen what meth can do to families. Anything I can do to stop some dork from making it is OK with me, and this is very minor. Of course, going out with some friends and dealing with it with some bats would be better....
They haven't given WalMart clerks quite the same powers as Transportation safety Administration workers yet have they?
So I guess you still have some free speech rights.
--and it's a long way from a disposable cell phone to an "IED"--
Like actual meth makers would use drug lingo in front of the store clerks. Whadda bunch of dumb cops!
What did you do to celebrate?
Did anyone read this at the White House?
I'm sorry, but I disagree with you.
Only law abiding people are put out by this, not the meth makers/users. Sort of like onerous gun laws, they only harass the law-abiding.
Either that's from Scrappleface, or some WH writers need to be fired.
No, whoever came up with such a cockamamie idea needs to be fired.
I guess you are not in Oregon where you have to go to your doctor first for the prescription. Add that trip and the doctor's fee to the tab. Maybe even time off from work for the appointment.
I'm not sure ... based on the article, in some places they are supposed to be turning you in depending on your purchases, so why not based on your comments?
"Sell bhutane, cold medicine, and matches to the same customer, and an unknowing store clerk could well be arrested. These laws effectively deputized private business to begin policing the shopping habits of their customers – never a good idea."
Gracious! The last shopping trip to Wal-Mart I bought a two-pack of 1-bl propane canisters (to fuel my Coleman heaters), two 40-count boxes of Day-quill (to control my migraines), and a fireplace lighter (to light the Coleman heaters). I couldda' got myself arrested!
Don't tell the feds that some people will hide drugs in certain body cavities. They might get ideas about giving you a literal probe, instead of just a figurative one. But I guess it might be good for latex glove manufacturers, so people would support it if it's sold as "creating manufacturing jobs".
Good grief.
Like I said, these laws are assinine.
I wonder what kind of trouble we can get into, as the nearest pharmacy to us is across the state line in Maryland....sheesh.
I don't like the Idea that the Federal Government under Alberto Gonzalez Dept. of Justice implies that people who have a legitimate need for Sudaphed or other Nasal decongestants are criminals and that they require a drivers license to purchase a non schedualed over the counter drug.
That is absurd.If they want to find the meth labs let them do real law enforcement work.Your average user is not going to make meth out of a package of sudaphed.
Yeah, if you have medical insurance! I may need to drive to Washington State or Idaho to get my Claritin-D, of course I'll need to find out if doing so and bringing it back into Oregon is a criminal offense. Nothing like turning law abiding citizens into criminals with a stroke of a pen!
Failed war on some drugs proponents can thank themselves for meth. We should take a vote on the drug war. A consensus vote. Those that want to continue it should have to write their addresses down so the government can send them a monthly bill for it. The money wasted on the fWO(s)D would be better spent stuffing rat holes and for kindling purposes.
Umm, the Methamphetamine Study Group?
I think it's called college.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I checked my local paper. Not one single Methamphetamine Awareness Day activity listed. And to think, my family and I got all dressed up for nothing.
I have 8 boxes of the real Sudafed left.
My favorite part of a recent visit to my pharmacy was needing to provide picture ID for a box of Cold Formula Advil, but not for the Rx I was getting refilled. Prednisone and hydrocodone!
And I'm pretty sure that I violated at least state, and probably federal law the other day... One of my co-workers was complaining of a terrible sinus headache, so I gave her one of my Cold Formula Advils when she asked for one!
Mark
for some folks,EVERYDAY is METH AWARENESS DAY!
It's absolutely insane.
While going to the doctor for a script is not needed in Maryland or Virginia, going to a pharmacy is. From where I live in VA, the nearest pharmacy is in Maryland. Granted I can get it in Va, but why should I have to drive 30 miles to a VA pharmacy, when I can go 14 miles to the WalMart pharmacy in MD.
I don't envy you folks in Oregon, not one bit.
It is just ludicrous that the government puts people into the position of bragging about having "pre-ban" cold medicine. It's sort of like saying, "oh look, I have a few pairs of pre-ban socks". It's as idiotic as the concept of "pre-ban magazines". Why is there a ban at all? (That's rhetorical.)
Well said and worth repeating. Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah & Happy New Year!
I could have a 70 inch Sony LCD HDTV for those 8 boxes. Even if they're a few years old.
But before they do I'd like to propose a "Government Get out of my Business Awareness Day."
...perhaps on Dec. 15 (Bill of Rights Day).
And these innocent people face up to 20 years in prison -- far more time than many violent criminals get.
The so-called justice system is turned completely upside-down.
Same thing happened to me last week. My son got a nasty cold/flu congestion problem, and he then gave it to me and his grandparents. I went to WAL-M@RT to buy me some effective decon. stuff, the other ingredient they use in the new formula's gives me a headache. Since the pharmacy was closed I couldn't get it. Earlier in the week I went to the CV$ pharmacy to buy my some cold medicine also for my #1 son. I bought the children's version of the old stuff, and the new formulation also. I had to fill out the paperwork and give my name and prisoner #......I asked the pharmacist what the rules were and he reluctantly told me 2.4grams per month. If you do the math thats the recommended adult dosage for 10 days, if you always take it every 6 hours (not ever in 4 hrs which the childrens package says is OK). Better not have more than 1 person in your family sick.......if you are the one doing the shopping. KNOCK, KNOCK. I guarantee most of our households have some amount of all the ingredients needed.
And BTW the new stuff doesn't work as well for my son either. Not a good situation, no answers, and I felt like a criminal for trying to get more than 2 hrs (total) of sleep.
Phil
sw
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