I am allergic to cats...

[greatblondelf]

And there will be some cats this holiday season. So, I went to the drugstore to get some claritin, which has done a good job for me in the past. Undeterred by the placeholder for the product in question, I took the laminated card up to the pharmacy window, to find out that in order to buy such things in Washington, you have to sign and date a

Comments

methamphetamines

[qousqous]

You probably picked Claritin with the decongestant pseudoephedrine in it. Pseudoephedrine is basically speed, and can be used to make meth. So they control it now and limit how much you can buy. You have to go through the same thing in Oregon. I did once, and I noticed that they wrote the total amount of pseudoephedrine (in mg) in the package down along with my name and ODL#.

In July next year, pseudoephedrine will go prescription-only in Oregon. By then, presumably, they will have reformulated most drugs that contain it to contain phenylephrine instead, which works just as well (I've used it) and can't be made into meth.

Re: methamphetamines

[zanfur]

Well, it's not "basically speed", but it can be used to make meth. Anything with Pseudophedrin in it requires signing a little form and being over 18 (so, if you're too young to know how to convert it to meth, you can't buy it).

Unfortunate upshot of this is that NyQil has changed to phenylephrine, and it doesn't work nearly as well anymore (I've used it as well, although I can't vouch for anything except NyQil).

Re: methamphetamines

[qousqous]

Okay, it's not "basically speed", but it is a strong stimulant.

Phenylephrine doesn't work as well for you? I bought some straight Sudafed PE (just phenylephrine in pills) a few weeks ago, and it worked great for me.

Re: methamphetamines

[zanfur]

I don't use decongestants much, as a general rule, so my only real experience to it was in NyQuil. NyQuil used to work for me, really well, really consistently. Now, it doesn't really do much for me. I've only had occasion to test the new drug twice, though, so I'm still gathering data.

[clipdude]

I believe Oregon was the first state to implement such requirements. Not only that, but soon purchasing psuedophedrine will require a prescription.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec05/meth_12-12.html