Rant alert :rant2:

Whenever I visit a country I used to live in, I check my list of things I can't buy in Finland to see what I want to stock up on. So when I was in Illinois last month, I bought canned pumpkin, Sharpie pens, Goo-gone, and Drixoral. Only it turned out to be *much* harder than I expected to get the Drixoral!

(For non-US readers, Drixoral is cold medicine. You don't need a prescription to buy it, but it turns out that you do now have to put your name into some database to register your purchase, because the amount you are allowed to buy is limited. The reason seems to be that if you are clever and evil you can use it as an ingredient for making crystal meth.)

Let me say first that I have *NO* problem with restricting how much Drixoral somebody buys *IF* this is going to curb the crystal meth problem.

BUT, the store told me I couldn't use any non-US ID to do so. Not a Finnish driver's license, even though it's a government-issued ID. (In fact, Finnish driver's licenses are not state-specific, they're uniform across the whole EU... UNLIKE American driver's licenses.) On the other hand, it was fine for my *brother* to sign for me using his license, even though we told the druggist that the medicine was not for him but for me.

The really crazy thing :rant: is that I read what he had to sign. Did it ask whether he had these cold symptoms? No. Did it ask whether this medicine was for his own use? Obviously not. Did it make him promise not to make crystal meth with this drug? No! ALL it said was "I understand that it's a federal crime to make a misleading statement." He signed a statement saying that he knew it was a crime to lie, but he didn't HAVE to lie about anything because they didn't ASK him anything except whether he knew it was a crime to lie!!

WHAT? :doh: :steam:

Can anybody explain this to me? Is this truly (as the manager told me when I complained) a Federal Law? Is it actually going to accomplish anything, do you think?

It's nice to see you're back :)
Well did you know that on the paper for applying for American visa there is a question "Are you a terrorist?" :blink:
After that nothing surprises me.

I understand completely, Potok. Like any drug war, I seriously doubt the process is having that much of an effect on crystal meth users. They'll just find something else to use. Plus, the stores don't maintain one connected database, so a person can buy multiple bottles all day long as long as they're willing to drive to different locations. Even one Wal-Mart to the next doesn't have any link to the other's database.

Do you know how difficult it is to buy lye now for the same reason? I had considered making my own soap at one point, but it was so difficult to buy lye, I never persued it.

Regardless, it's annoying having to jump through hoops to buy my Claritin. :angry:

I agree that it's a pain in the ass and that it's probably not a deterrent to those who cook meth. I think it is like many of the our useless laws only a way to make our useless legislators feel like they are doing something. in the instance they are fighting a "war on meth". They don't want to get off their asses and do something that might really help with the meth problem. Can't afford to piss off some of their more 'important' (read big money contributors) constituents!

I sent DH to the store a few weeks ago to get me Comtrex AND cough syrup. He couldn't buy both!

I haven't had a problem buying any of the cold meds. I think around here they only frown if you are buying mass quantities. :shrug:

I'm not sure if it's a federal law, or just a law that's very similar in all the states, but yes, it is a law.

If a product contains the product that's used to make meth, you're only allowed to buy a certain quantity of it every month. You must present identification, and you must sign a statement.

For most of us, it means that you can't get the effective cold meds when the pharmacy isn't open. It also means that if you have 4 kids (like a co-worker does) and your whole family gets the cold, you're SOL, because the amount that two adults can buy won't get 6 people through a cold, and you can't buy it if you're under 18.

I'm currently on prescription strength Allegra-D for allergies, and I have to take this every 12 hours. The -D is for Decongestant, and that's the part that's restricted here and limited in the quantities you can get. If you're getting medicine without pseudoephedrine (or ephedrine), you're generally fine.

In January however, my health insurance company (Blue Cross & Blue Shield) stopped covering my prescription allergy medication unless I get special dispensation from my doctor. And in order to get that, I first have to try and verify that neither Claritin-D nor Zyrtec-D work as well for me since they're both now over-the-counter. (Over the counter but still behind the counter because of the -D and I have to do the whole license and signing thing to get them.)

However, as a twice a day allergy pill user, do you think I'd be able to have some streamlined way to get more than 2 weeks worth of drugs without having to sign my life away each time? You would think they'd have at least some kind of easier procedure set up for those of us who need this medication to breathe, no? Nope! Like Breeni has pointed out, those of us with allergies have to go through the same crap! And though Claritin which I had tried before doesn't work nearly as well for me as Allegra does, the Zyrtec actually comes close. HOWEVER, I refuse to go through that crap every 2 weeks just to get my meds. I'll do everything I can to get my doctor to get me that special dispensation so I can stay on my Allegra-D, and not have to be treated like a criminal every 2 weeks just for the right to BREATHE!! :rant:


Yes, many of the laws here in the States are so freakin stupid and don't even make sense. Our goverment is truly run by a bunch of morons!! :dunce:

:rofl: Yes, we expect all terrorist to answer the question honestly and admit they have plans to blow something up, run planes into buildings, etc. You mean they wouldn't be honest?????????? I'm just in shock. :rofl: :whistle: :duh:

Did you know on the applications to renew doctor's medical licenses here that they ask - - do you use any illegal substances?
When filling these out for doctor's over the years, I so wanted to answer, yes, daily as much as possible - just because it's so stupid to ask the question because if a doctor was using they aren't going to answer honestly or they wouldn't get a license renewed. :duh: :thinking: :shrug: :duh:

And the real fun part is that, according to the pharmacists in town, all these lovely measures aren't slowing down meth production in the least. Hel-lo! The meth producers need to get ingredients in bulk, and still do so through the same illegal channels they used before! If anything this probably just makes them harder to track -- the dumb ones aren't buying baskets-full of cold med's out in broad daylight anymore so the cops can follow them back to their lairs.

So all this for nothing. :bash:


Oh, and this probably varies by area, but around here they don't cross-check the sign-up sheets very often. So if you're over your limit at one pharmacy, try going next door. :rolleyes: That's often less trouble then getting your neighbors to buy some for you.

Ah, fun times with the prohibition on cold medicine....

It is such a pain the butt to deal with that crap. Last time i got some cold meds, i had to get it at Sams, as i was traveling.. only the one I WANTED, I couldn't get because the pharmasy closed 10 mins before I checked out.. so I had to get something else. :rolleyes:

I really think the only thing this law even does it cause a huge headache for those who are HONEST and NOT drug dealers.. the drug dealers just find other ways to get it.

I understand security measurements, and I usually don't b*&^H, but I'm always saying, "the terrorists had tickets"

:lol: A little like the question on the income tax form so that you can declare any illegal earnings. I guess maybe that got introduced after Al Capone.

I'm glad for me but depressed on behalf of America that this seems to be the consensus here.

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

Actually, I've heard that most criminals do declare most of their illegal earnings. Not necessarily HOW they came by said earnings, but the money itself goes on their taxes.

They're more afraid of the IRS than the cops.

:blink:

Wow.

huh.

So I guess you can't be prosecuted for doing something illegal if you've incriminated yourself by admitting you've earned illegally so long as you don't tell *how* you did it? Or the IRS can't share info with the police or what? What a system! :rolleyes:

No, they report it as something legal, but that it's feasible you won't have a W-2 or 1099 for. Tips, miscellaneous freelance work, etc.

Or if they launder the money, they report that income when it comes out "clean".

The IRS gets suspicious if bank accounts and income are incompatible.

Plus, you have to keep in mind that most of the time, the IRS doesn't even look at what you write down, just that the numbers add up. It's done via computer, and they only really look at it if you get audited.

It's amazing the range of stuff I learn on BO! :D