Sudafed used to work. We used it to insure clear air passages when scuba diving. Then the druggies started using it to cook meth. Then they dumbed it down.
Hasn’t worked since.
You can still get it. They have it behind the counter and they run your DL# to see if your despicable then they will only give you 30 incase the meth itch just takes you over.
“Sudafed used to work. We used it to insure clear air passages when scuba diving.”
We used to call it Scubafed.
Then the druggies started using it to cook meth. Then they dumbed it down. Hasn’t worked since.
The only thing OTC that I've ever found that works is the old-formula Actifed, now only made off-label in the US by Walgreens.
Pseudoephedrine as a decongestant, and an actual effective antihistamine, triprolidine. The idea behind banning it was that it was too easy to "cook" the pseudoephedrine into Meth, but the elaborate restrictions have done less than nothing to reduce the availability or increase the street price of meth. It's just made it hard for people to get effective cold medicine. You can easily get as much as you need in the UK and EU, but the US system is all about performative narrative. Deeply broken in ways that are almost impossible to fix.
Phenylephrine replaced pseudoephedrine. You can’t make meth from phenylephrine.
You can get pseudoephedrine but it’s behind the counter at the pharmacy.
In this case the panel is right, phenylephrine doesn’t work.
The antihistamine diphenhydramine does work, they weren’t addressing that drug.
“Diver’s Reds”
You can still get pseudoephedrine hydrochloride but the pharmacies keep it behind lock and key and the DEA tracks the purchases.
"Real" sudafed (with pseudoephedrine) can still be gotten from the pharmacist without a prescription. It's more expensive that it should be, though.
Sudafed PE is the placebo version.
Plain Sudafed still has pseudoephedrine — depending on your state you often have to ask to get it since it may be kept behind the counter.