The Patriot Act Almost Kept Me Sick
This morning I called my primary care physician to ask for advice on the best treatment approaches for the head cold that I have battled for the past week. The nurse on call recommended Advil Cold & Sinus or Sudafed as top choices. Dutifully, I went to CVS to procure said cold medicine, only to find a card on the shelf that directed me to an adult behind the counter.
I briefly recalled that there were some issues in Texas last spring that involved teen drug use as a result of “cheese heroin” that was produced from products containing pseudoephedrine. As you might have guessed, I am all for keeping kids off drugs; yet, I found the following tactic intrusive and annoying. At first, I figured that this must be some control so that meth labs do not steal ingredients. The cashier asked me whether I would prefer 24 or 40 caplets, but I could not hold the box prior to purchase. I do not know about you, but I like to read the box, including the ingredients and the dosage and directions before purchasing medicine. This was slightly annoying, but I decided on the 40 caplets because it was a better per unit value.
The cashier proceeded to ring me through and asked for my driver’s license. For whatever reason my license would not scan and had to be entered manually by a manager. I wondered if I would have been denied my cold medicine if the manager had been unavailable. Also, what do non-driving citizens do when they need to purchase cold medicine? Is it fair that only citizens with driver’s licenses be able to buy medicine? Is this also presuming that it is not appropriate for a 16 year-old to buy cold medicine since MA residents are ineligible for driver’s licenses before age 16? Does this also mean that in states like Louisiana where residents may get their licenses at a younger age, that they are eligible to buy cold medicine at a younger age? I find it curious if that is the case, especially in light of the fact that Louisiana has more documented cases of cheese heroin use among teens that many other states (aside from neighboring Texas).
After signing an agreement that the government was monitoring my pseudoephedrine purchases, I left CVS. Driving home, I wondered what type of regulations were in place. According to online sources, senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Jim Talent (R-MO) failed to bring this legislation into effect by any means except by adding it as an anti-meth clause in the Patriot Act. Moreover, this means that Big Brother has limited my pseudoephedrine purchases to one box per day and a maximum of three boxes per month. Presumably, that means that I am not able to buy a box each of Sudafed and Advil Cold & Sinus for my apartment in Boston and my house on the South Shore in the same 30 day period. Does anyone else think that is odd?
January 4th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Liz that was a great rant and I completely agree!
January 4th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Needless government intervention. You apparently haven’t tried to buy anything with pseudoephedrine in the past few years.
At least they scanned your license. In CT when I’ve bought it they just enter it in pen into a notebook. I bet this notebook never gets recorded anywhere and so I could, if I wanted to, buy as much as I wanted just from different supermarkets and pharmacies.
I think it is fine to limit excessive purchases (like the gross of sudafed you’d need to make meth), but why should I have to provide my identification to purchase a few boxes of cold medicine.
January 8th, 2008 at 12:55 am
Liz and Billy,
Your comments lead me to believe you have strong “terrorist” tendencies. I may feel compelled to report you to the officials for your unpatriotic remarks. I, for one, am glad the pharmacies are keeping an eye on you both!