Liberal Talk Radio

Was shocked to find today that purchasing some cold medicine requires registering with the police. True story. Go into a Rite Aid in WA state and try and buy some “Advil Cold and Sinus”. You’ll have to pull a ticket off the shelf, take it to the pharmacist, wait in line behind the homely (but successful, judging by her shoes) 30-something woman who was obviously purchasing birth control for the first time, and then SIGN A LOG that essentially gives the cops the right to track you down if they suspect a meth problem in your neighborhood. I was too ill to care … so I signed. For the record, I intend to lay in a supply next time I’m in a non-regulated state and not live with the fear that the cops will track me down for possible misuse of my 20 cold tablets.

Anyway …

I found this to be completely ridiculous. Yet another bizarre and misguided effort by the Po-Po in their tragi-comic “war” (”Wuk da-da Bushy. Me fight da wahr too! Just wike gwampa Rayguns tellus to.”), ahem, in their tragi-comic war on America’s public finances.

So I’m looking for some info on whether or not these policies are effective. Preliminary search reveals, that, according to the Public Statistics Institute (Impacts of federal ephedrine and pseudoephedrine regulations on methamphetamine-related hospital admissions), the impact on emergency room admissions from regulating precursors to methamphetamine production commonly used by small producers is minimal. To quote:

Regulations targeting precursors used by large-scale producers reduced admissions substantially during the study period. However, the regulation of precursors used primarily by small-scale producers had little, if any, effect.

Note that regulating the precursors used by large scale producers — sale of large quantities of bulk powder ephedrine — does have an impact. I know that meth is a scourge, and I wholeheartedly support policies that prove themselves effective against its production and trafficking. What I’m decrying here is the generalized attitude that many in the news media — and many private citizens — have that “all’s fair in the Drug War.”

In fact, like any public policy, we have to carefully weigh the costs and benefits from any particular action in this effort. As you know, I personally believe about 95% of the policies currently considered part of the Drug War to be baseless, wrongheaded, and without any discernable positive net benefit, save for the sheriffs and police chiefs who enjoy the middle-school and mega-church lecture circuit. [aside: the head of the local DARE program when I was growing up subsequently served time for a slight problem he had with diet pills ... things that make you go hmmm.]

Of course, who knows what impact anything associated with the Drug War has actually had? The Feds routinely refuse to study it. Read a little further down in the article quoted above and you find this gem.

The US federal government has regulated dozens of chemicals used in illicit drug production … This policy, deemed effective by the Drug Enforcement Administration … is a cornerstone of America’s war on drugs … but its actual impact on drug problems has not been analyzed. [emphasis added; citations only removed for brevity]

So, if the Drug War is such a great boon to America, why not commit that to the public record in the form of a federally financed study or three? What, Congress, you scared?