If cold medicine is outlawed, only outlaws will have cold medicine
The war on drugs, and on common sense, continues, as Oregon becomes the first state in the nation to require a prescription for over-the-counter cold medicines that contain ingredients that could be used to make methamphetamine. For a sensible take on the meth scourge, and a lesson in how government's good intentions can go awry, check out this.
posted by Jonathan Potts at
4:53 PM
1 Comments:
This article from the Times is equally interesting regarding what occurs when the states go after the homegrown labs. Not that it is that shocking, anybody with common sense could see this coming.
TULSA, Oklahoma (AP) -- Just as some midwestern U.S. states are finding a strategy to put homegrown methamphetamine labs out of business, drug agents say they have begun finding more of the stimulant coming from Mexican cartels on the street.
Oklahoma's meth lab seizures have fallen 90 percent since April 2004, when it became the first state to ban over-the-counter sales of everyday cold and allergy medications that can be converted into methamphetamine in makeshift labs.
But at the same time, seizures of smokeable Mexican meth known as ''crystal ice'' rose nearly fivefold, from 384 cases in the 15 months before the law to 1,875 since.
Mexican cartel cell groups that traditionally focused on trafficking cocaine, heroin and marijuana have added methamphetamine to their supply, said Lonnie Wright, director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control.
''We're regrouping and we're kind of at a crossroads,'' Wright told members of the Oklahoma Sentencing Commission this month. ''I think we're through with meth labs, at least for now.''
Other states that have copied Oklahoma's anti-meth approach expect to see a similar tradeoff. But drug agents say they can fight ice with techniques they already employ against cocaine and other organized drug trafficking.
10:06 AM
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home