Ban sinus meds

by Sapphire (January 31, 2005)

Here’s the latest episode in our pre-adolescent society’s obsession with banning everything that could ever potentially harm anyone under any circumstances, no matter how stupid or unlikely, with absolutely no regard for how many ways it could help somebody.

New state law: you’re only allowed to buy two sinus medications at a time. Two packages of Sudafed…. a package of Sudafed for you and a package of Chlortrimeton for your spouse… hey, if you’ve got a whole family that needs different sinus meds, you’re an outlaw wannabe now! I can only hope they don’t have bars that come down around you until the S.W.A.T. team shows up to haul you off for even thinking about it.

Is this related to the recent health scare about these meds, which was based on - what? Meds that have been on the market for decades without killing anybody, but someone produced a study suggesting they might possibly hurt somebody if they take it while suffering from 6 rare diseases on a month ending in “e” during a full Aquarius moon? Well, bring out the cavalry, folks! Gotta ban that evil substance!

I think it’s much more likely this is in response to the fact that people who have methamphetamine labs in their basements use over-the-counter sinus meds as part of the cocktail. Let’s not invest in police forces to find these guys and put them away. Let’s not invest in giving kids anything in the world else to do with their time. Let’s not expect parents to, oh I don’t know - teach their kids about drugs???

Nah, let’s create some hassle for innocent people. And unfortunately, it’s all for naught, because it’s perfectly unenforceable. You can order these drugs online, in bulk, no problem. Even at the stores trying so hard to comply, you can go away and come back a little bit later and buy more. You can go to every drugstore in town, buying as many orders of two as they’ll let you.

The bottom line: this will only affect innocent people who have a perfectly sane reason for buying more than two products. Families whose members need different meds. Individuals who just want to take advantage of a good sale and stock up. Really large families who all get colds together and go through those little packages pretty quickly without taking a bit more than the recommended dose. Let’s make them all feel like lawbreakers - that accomplishes so much!

Posted in The BS Files
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