This is unbelievable and I just have to rant about this.  I don't know if this is just a law that Texas has past or if its widescale.  I have a major cold, and got out of bed to buy some Sudafed at the store.  All the cold medications that contained the Pseudophedrine ingredient were off the shelves and behind the pharmacy counter.  I lost my TDL about a week back and only have my temporary paper license until my replacement DL comes in the mail.  When I went to the pharmacy to buy the Sudafed (long acting) the pharmisict told me that a new law has been inacted and the stores are not allowed to sell anything that contains Pseudonphedrine without an actual picture ID (TDL).  They wouldn't even except my paper license for the purchase.  So I had to get my SO to get it for me.  When he got there to purchase it they had a binder form in which they had to actually document his name, address, all his info off of his license, then have him sign for the medicine.  Apparently Big Brother is now keeping track of anyone that buys these cold medicines because they are trying to curtail the illicit drug activity of making Meth.  I'm angry about this, because it seems everytime I turn around another law encroaching on my rights and liberties is inacted because of the stupidity of others.  I am also outraged that the people who inacted this stupid law really think this is going to put a dent in our drug problem.  It is in my opinion that the US has lost sight of the real issues, and now has gone "law making" happy on all of us.  Totally F**ked up...  what's next?  Are we going to need a picture ID to buy hairspray now because some idiots like huffing the hairspray???

Finally found a couple of links on this...
http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=3497568

Does law enforcement really think that this is going to stop the making of meth with these people??  They  must be living in a tree...  I can see it now, drug dealer pays his buddy to go by the maximum quantity and bring it back to him, then he pays another buddy to do the same and so on. Till he has what he needs to make his batch!  In the meantime, the average citizen loses their ability to buy a common over the counter drug privately and without hassle for their cold.  This sorta reminds me of the whole gun control BS.

attention to all that politicians say & do and not just the stupid sound bites that the fluff head "journalists" present.  I really hate to bother someone in Houston with this - but the greatest fluff head of all times comes from Houston.... Dan Rather.... what a dolt - the guy admittedly used non-verified info in a telecast.  - his arrogance was unbelievable - and so it goes.  Real positions need to be backed up with real actions - and the case presented to the voters.... not the pablum that is so predigested and test marketed that all we get is a position that is either a non-position or a position that is so extreem that it is created just to provide support from extreemist groups....  

Sorry - seems we are all in a ranty way this day!!  I sympathize with you - as there is nothing worse than a stuffy nose...!  hate em.

I guess I better make sure my record is clean before I go down to the drugstore, maybe I should call on the local meth lab since that's where all the Sudefed will be?

I guess if you don't drive and have a cold you are SOL.

...U.S. Vice President still has unrestricted access to a Mossberg pump-action and unlimited rounds of birdshot....

-- Modified on 2/24/2006 12:32:49 PM

As misguided as this effort may be, it is good that people are taking the meth issue seriously.  It is huge.

The point of my rant below - is that often politicians take actions that, on the surface, seem to be something to "solve the problem"  The most often offered solution is to "throw more $$$ at the problem"  Sometimes the $$$ IS the problem.

In the case of meth, this is only one source of chemicals...  as someone who has knowledge - the chemistry to make this stuff - is not exactly difficult.....  What makes more sense is to look to the problem of how it makes money for people...  solve that - take away the incentive to do the business....

I just finished watching that movie "Dominoe", and came back here to see what responses I got to the thread I posted here!  Your reponses certainly got a laugh out of me.. thanks I needed that!  Yea, I have been sick for days now with a respiratory infection and a slight case of bronchitis.  On the subject of illicit drugs, my take on it is it will never go away.  People will always look for some form of escapism and there are those who are just simply prone to addictive behaviors.  I don't think creating more legislation and taking away the peoples rights are the way to go about solving the problem.  If its not Meth, they will eventually create another drug down the road, and then that will become the hip drug to take.  Yes, meth is very simple to make but your not going to stop them  from making it.  Yes there is a demand for it and money generated by that demand.  I think as a society that we need to take a closer look at the actual problem and find a different approach to solving it or least curtail it.  I think there are just too many creative and intelligent minds out there that can offer real solutions to our drug problem.  It is my understanding that alcohol is still the number one killer from direct use and related deaths.  Maybe that is changing, but I see more college kids drunk out of the gord getting into deadly accidents on the street, not to mention the numerous AA meetings I see popping up all over the country.  Like here in my neighborhood they just built two new church facilities to house the Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.  I agree that the people of the US are not paying attention to the kind of people we elect into office.  Nor are we holding the media accountable for the paranoia and mis / disinformation they create.

I am feeling a bit better myself now, having gotten my "rant" out of me.  Part of it was inspired by the post below concerning the repeal of abortion rights, part by some pestering on the board that caused me & another personal hurt and part by the fact that our pres & crew seem not to be capable of understanding that they just provided more funding (through the port contract) to people who tipped off Ben Ladin that the CIA was on his trail in 1998 (hey - it is in the 9/11 commissions report!  which Bush should have read!  guess he didn't).

focusing on head colds helped my head for a little....   but enough about me.... will Ted Poe run for national office!?  hanging judge! that he was....  lol!  Houston - what a place....  Best place to eat?  Guadalajara Mexican Grille on Katy Freeway!  (great drinks too)  best titty bar....   hee hee there are so many - thanks for getting me out of my funk!!!!

Watch the PBS Frontline episode on this and you
will learn a thing or two about why this needed.

At first they limited how much you could buy.  I'm told that they are trying to get sudafed marked as prescription drug.  

I do agree with you.  When I was at the pharmacy the last time, and had to go through the same thing you told me about, I asked: "do these records just sit around forever, are they ever destroyed or expired?"

She said they'll sit around forever.  

What part of the investigation is this supposed to help?  I could see the police looking at these and seeing if there's somebody who's buying sudafed at every store in town.  That could be grounds to get a warrant.  So it's going to be random checks of sudafed users.  Meanwhile, due to asset forfieture, police are very motivated to make these investigations.

We're paying them to fight a war on drugs, remember?

-- Modified on 2/24/2006 4:43:36 PM

And these people will make a fortune selling it to the meth labs.

know somebody that got 5 years for buying it.  He had a previous record and got caught doing something stupid, but wasn't involved in drug traffic.

Remember when crack was going to destroy the world?  It went from crack, to heroin, to ecstacy and now the fad is meth.  One analyst said that a fad in a stimulant like crack or meth is always followed by one in depressents.  Because users need something to take the edge off their highs.  

Taking it seriously to me would be doing something besides thinking of more reasons to lock people up.  It needs to be approached as a medical problem, and that way the social effects need to be minimized.  Once they declare it an evil, then any further problem solving waits undone.

It certainly makes LE a fast-growing industry.  Jack Webb should be proud.

That's so sad that you have to struggle a little bit for your witty, bitty cold.  How about the children and non-addict loved ones whose lives have been ruined by crystal meth?  You may not understand the problem, but you will someday.  Unless crystal meth is eradicated, it will become the largest drug epidemic this country has ever seen.  Frontline recently had an outstanding special on meth.  Here's the synopsis, so maybe you can learn to be sensitive to the plights of others, "stupid" as they may be, instead of bemoaning your trifling annoyances.

Many believe an addiction to crystal meth cannot be cured.  A few have beaten it; most have not.  There is no medical treatment for it like heroin.  Its destruction is more powerful than heroin and cocaine as well.  If you haven't known a meth addict, then you have no idea what I am talking about.  But it is all consuming, and not manageable.  Nothing else matters.  Not the addict's children, spouse, or themselves.  Imagine then:  combine an incurable addiction with the actions of the addict--you get a huge societal problem that is just beginning.

Unlike cocaine and heroin, crystal meth is made from certain man-made ingredients.  The main one, ephedrine and pseudo-ephedrine are so complex structures, that they can only be created in a large chemical lab, and there are only a handful around the world.  Without that ingredient, meth cannot be made.  The same was true for qualudes.  what, you say?  haven't heard of it?  because the supply was mostly eliminated using the same approach.  it had a key ingredient that was too hard to be made outside a large chemical factory.  they stopped/regulated that more closely.  the supply dropped.  the problem went away.  that model doesn't work for naturally occurring drugs.  but it worked for qualudes.  it would have worked for meth too, and was attempted, but the regulation was blocked for 20 years because of concerns such as yours.  in the meantime, so many people's lives have been ruined.  if you don't feel sorry for the addict, then how about the innocent children?

go to PBS website and find the frontline documentary.  you might learn to care about someone else.  in the meantime, cry to yourself about how you have to blow your nose, while some child is being sexually assaulted in a trailer park in oregon by some meth addict who has absolutely no control over his actions because the drug has physically taken over his brain.

household ammonia - and other common chemicals to obtain a synthetic route - maybe not the most elegant - or the best yield - but doable....

The necessary synthetic steps can be found in any organic chem 201 class textbook.  please, once again, the pablum that you receive, spoon fed, by TV is just that - simplified - watered down truth.

To show you the truth, that there is something that needs to be done long term, that to stem drug addition you need to address the social system as well - that requires a true investigation - and the presentation of complex solutions.  Too often - we are handed a solution that "looks good" but does not even come close to solving the problem.  

-- Modified on 2/25/2006 10:11:21 PM

Which is kind of funny because Vegas is the ecstacy capital of the US, and second only to Amsterdam in the world, probably. Like you're using and you're going to go into Costco to make some from scratch...right.

Jakethom,

First I find your post insulting.  First and foremost I have had personal experience with Meth.  I am a recovered addict.  Yes, one can get off the drug and stay off of it successfully.  Secondly I am sick and tired of the media giving people half truth and twisted truth to make their ratings on TV.  Just to let you know, the statistics are so off with the media, Cocaine is still the number most widely used drug in the world right now.  Not meth.  More people are killed annually or die from Alcohol abuse and or related deaths by alcohol, visit the CDC on this.  Just because someone is on meth does not make them a child molester or cause them to kill people.  The people who do commit such heinous acts would have done so with or without being on meth.  By the way Qualudes, and Mandrex, Black Mollies all those drugs did not go away because some laws were inacted to stop the production, they went away because demand dwindled due to new and more potent drugs on the street scene.  Had the demand stayed for those drugs we would still see a major amount of usage of these type drugs. I know all too well the dangers of meth and what happens to your brain and body.  Heres a website you can go visit www.methmadness.com some friends of mine put this together quite sometime back. You better look up your statistics before you go spouting off.  I am sick and tired of losing my simple freedoms because of the knee jerk reaction that the people in this country have over mass media paranoia.  There are other ways of treating this epidemic as you call it, without taking away the rights of others.  Ephedrine is found in numerous diet products, and health food products, and pseudophedrine is very helpful for those who have upper respiratory congestion.  You forget that there are millions of Americans who do not have health insurance and may not have the money to visit a doctor over a head cold, and it is easier for them to get common cold medicine that is over the counter to relieve symptoms.  I am just sick and tired of people like you who spout off shit that you do not know of, but because you saw it on some Damned TV show!  I am sick and tired of losing my simple freedoms in this country because of knee jerk reactions to a problem that is not being adequately addressed.  Law makers are very good at selling you a "law" remedy than taking the time to find out what is really at the core of the problem.  And you are sadly mistaken if you think for one moment this is going to put a dent in the making of meth.  You wanna know why?  Because the people I use to know a long time ago bought psuedonphedrine in pure form over the internet!!!  What I want to see done is for our money to be put towards helping the poor and uneducated.  Lets put money put into giving the poor people real jobs in which they can live.  Did you know that we haven't had a minimum wage increase in this country to keep up with the standard of living since 1992?  That is because the members of congress shoot down this proposed increase every year saying that if they allow a minimum wage increase in this country that it will vastly effect big business and could possibly cause company layoffs, yet these same members of congress give themselves a pay increase annually to the average tune of $25,000. a year!!  The number one reason that people make and sell meth is because of the money involved.  The people I have met in times past couldn't survive and have a normal life on just minimum wage, and therefore it was just too easy for them to get caught up in making the drug because it produced a side income that raised their standard of living.  No sir, I think you are ill informed and just a sheep of the media and law enforcement.

-- Modified on 2/26/2006 6:11:11 AM

-- Modified on 2/26/2006 6:13:20 AM

-- Modified on 2/26/2006 6:42:21 AM

is incredibly more complex than just removing the "Drug de jour"  Finding and remeadying the cause of addiction would more than likely require that we all get a bit more edjucation.  That would include the - for the most part - ignorant news media reporter types.  Back in the day  - to be a reporter meant that you really had to study the problem - you had a deadline - but it was one that made some degree of sense and gave some time to the process of verification.

today?  the questions that are asked by the editors-in-charge I imagine something like:
Will this person "look" right on TV?
Can we get this out in the next commercial break?
Does this story generate enough purient interest that we can hold an audience by appealing to their most basic of instincts?
Does this story and the conclusion we are driving to fit the "agenda" of a certain group?

So.... Kat - thanks... You are correct I could get the basic materials today! - to synthesize almost anything I would wish - hard to synthesize from basic materials?  try Taxol... now that is hard.

Bizarro,

I agree with you.  Not to mention that more than half of the meth we see on the streets today is actually imported from Mexico and other countries.

Big Pharma will win if only because politicians need to get their freak on too and will go to great lengths to ensure an income to do it with.

It's no doubt the cheap foreign labor that's driving family-owned and operated meth labs in this country out of business.