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Tuesday, December 26, 2006
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I'm Shocked It Didn't Work

As you may recall, Oklahoma was one of the first states to pass laws restricting the sale of cough medicine in order to supposedly reduce the incidence of methamphetamine abuse.  I know... you're just as shocked as I am that meth is still the drug of choice in that fair state:

The rash of methamphetamine-related incidents in the Tulsa area only seems to underscore the assertion that meth remains the drug of choice in Oklahoma.

"Methamphetamine, which is produced in Mexico and the southwest United States and locally produced, remains the principal drug of concern in the state of Oklahoma," according to a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency report.
...
In 2004, Oklahoma led a nationwide movement by enacting a law restricting the sale of over-the-counter cold medicines that contain pseudoephedrine, a primary ingredient in the illicit production of methamphetamines. More than 30 other states have enacted similar laws since then.

As a result, meth lab seizures in Oklahoma have fallen dramatically, from 1,193 in 2001 to 274 in 2005. Unfortunately, the drug flow from Mexico has increased to supply Oklahoma addicts.

That's right... local meth labs have decreased, and in it's place we have the same amount of meth on the streets, and an increase in violent crime associated with the black market trade and gang activity from Mexico.  Of course, when your family is sick, it's nearly impossible to get the appropriate drugs to help them now, but you can comfort yourself by knowing that your inconvenience has done absolutely nothing to reduce drug abuse, or help anyone whatsoever.

Via On Deadline.

# Posted at 6:48 PM by Nick  |  Comment Feed Link 2 Comments  |  No Trackbacks

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Thursday, December 28, 2006 7:44:39 AM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
I'm a fan of your blog, but you need to re-think this one.

The bill to regulate the sale of cold medicine was never pitched as an attempt to limit meth use or demand. It was an attempt to shut down the poisonous meth labs that cause great danger to the residents within and their neighbors. It's not too hard to find examples of meth labs exploding and killing people, or contaminating a neighborhood. In this respect, the law has been wildly successful.

You truly wouldn't believe the condition that children live in when their parents have a meth lab. Just ask the guys in the Hazmat suits that have to go in and decontaminate the places. In 2004 in Iowa, over 1,000 children were pulled out of houses with meth labs. So when you flippantly say that the law hasn't "helped anyone whatsoever," that's just wrong.

So sorry about you having to spend an extra 30 seconds showing your ID for a specific kind of cold medicine once a year (the laws don't apply to liquid and gel cap forms, you can buy those wherever and as much as you want). That is hardly "impossible" to get. The cops who risk their lives to go in and seize meth labs and the poisoned children living in squalor in houses with those labs thank you.
Mr. Blonde
Thursday, December 28, 2006 12:53:02 PM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
You make a good point Mr. Blonde, but I'm going to stick to my guns here. If you're correct, at best what we've done, as every single move in the drug was does, is to replace one kind of harm with another. In this case, home grown meth labs are replaced with rampant gang violence from Mexico that grows in an effort to control the black market that inevitably comes to replace the home grown product.

What's worse, this gang violence is much more indiscriminate than the rather localized harm to the meth cooker and family that occurs when a meth lab pops up.

As for your comment on laws not applying to gel and liquid caps... while that technically may be true (and I'm not sure it is)... try going to Walgreens and finding a box of those on the shelves.

The ultimate irony is that the popularity of meth has only grown as other more preferred drugs like cocaine have been cracked down on.
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