I was just curious what Oklahoman's think about the recent bill that failed to pass. The idea was to make any pseudoephedrine product require a prescription for purchasing in Oklahoma. That would make it much harder for the meth heads to acquire the chemical locally, and would have allowed easier tracking of quantity buying customers.

Personally, i thought it was a good idea. I'm tired of hearing how these drug addicts are burning down houses, apartments, and adding to the destruction of so many lives.

Take the vote. I'm curious to see what the majority of us think about the bill that did not pass.

 

I thought it was a better solution than just keeping it behind the pharmacy counter.
Granted, it's a bit more difficult to get a prescription compared to the current method, but worth the effort. On the other hand, prescription-only pain killers seem to be rather easy to get, so even this idea isn't going to completely solve the problem......

Better plan: anyone caught manufacturing or selling meth should be shot. Dead people commit no crime.......

 

Glad it failed. Don't like being told to go see a doctor when just one or two pills will get rid of a clogged sinus. Yeah, a box of cold/sinus pills will expire before I use them all.

 

I think it is a must, and I believe our law makers are listening to people with money when they don't pass it. And, btw, I take one pseudoephed tablet each morning, 365 days/year. If I can get a prescription you can as well. I have and I'm ready.

 

It is not a must. It is already a pain in the butt having to get it unlocked at the store. Requiring a prescription isn't going to stop the meth heads...

 

I don't think the bill would have helped meth just more inconvence for the law a biting citizens. Its kinda a vicious cycle that you got to think about, bill gets passed that will drive up the street price of Pseudoephedrine and the final meth product. Now those meth heads will create more crime, mainly theft, trying to pay the higher price. I have seen this happen first hand, my brother and a couple of friends have been addicted to meth and pain killers for years and have been in and out of rehabs, the more they need the more stuff they got to seal to get ahead. I can tell you this none of them had any problems getting any kind of drug any time any where and I dont think that bill would have slowed anything.

 

Interesting view. One I hadn't thought of. So, what would work?

 

This:

Yeah, it's a bit extreme. But, back in the old days, horse/cattle thieves only got caught once. Somehow, death seemed to cure their bad habits.......

 

Interesting points. As for being told to go see a doctor to get a prescription, i dont think it would be as big a hassle as some people believe. I have been seeing my same doctor since 1998. He knows that if he sees me in his office then i am really sick. If i need a prescrip for something not extreme or powerful i can usually call and relay what i'm suffering from and he can get my prescription sent to the pharmacy. I dont see it as being a pain. I see a pain in the rear for the people on the news that were aparment neighbors with a meth head that was cooking the crap and burned all the surrounding apartments down. Now that seems more of a pain in the rear to me than having to get a prescrip or cabinet unlocked for some meds.

As for the physical punishment/death.....unfortunately our society is a lot softer than it was many years ago. I really cant see anyone losin an apendage or being executed because of making/selling/using that meth crap. i wouldnt be against the idea but i just cant see it happening nowadays.

I do think if the meth heads had a harder time accessing the pharmaceutical ingredients it would slow the production. They would have to get it out of state in big quantities. It's just a matter of time before the surrounding states start having as much meth problems as Oklahoma. Then we will see some bigger positive changes to affect the meth production.

 

By requiring people to have a prescription for pseudoephedrine products you are going to further burden the already busy, expensive and bloated healthcare system. Now instead of buying sudafed and going about my day I have to call the doctor, make an appointment, get a prescription and then go to the drug store and get what I should have been able to walk out with in the first place. The whole point of over the counter medicine is to avoid the visit to the doctor for small things.

 

I totally agree with what Chris is saying.

I could go get a small package of pills for a cold/sinus and they will usually expire before I'm done with the box. Why should I go to the doctor, pay a $20.00 co-pay just to go to Walmart and get the same box of pills for a few dollars.

Ron,
You may be lucky enough to have a doctor that will give a prescription over the phone. My doctor won't do that. You may also be one of the few that has work hours that allow you to visit the doctor during the day without taking off work. I know several people that are forced to use vacation/personal time just to visit the doctor.

All these meth-heads have to do is find something else to make their junk out of, and soon that chemical will be outlawed.
Meth-head -- cooks, burns down house/apartment, -- gets high gets into auto accident
Drunk driver -- gets drunk, gets in auto accident
Smoker -- tosses butts out window, causes grass fire and burns down houses
Better toss out your guns, someone might "borrow" one some day and shoot an innocent bystander. Oh wait, that already happens...

All the above affects more than just the abuser. Should everything be outlawed or should the judges,lawyers, and yes even jury's to stop being so wishy-washy when it comes to enforcing the law.

Sorry if my rants might offend anyone, but I just get tired of having to pay for the actions of someone else.

 

i hear ya, Mike. I'm not offended. Good points. I wonder if maybe there was someway to make it a Federal crime to manufacture/sell/use Meth, if that would help curb the epidemic ?....

I was also rolling around the idea in my head of an electronic sniffer to help find the meth makers. I'm sure the epa uses sophisticated equipment to test air quality in certain areas. How much more effort would it take to modify it to sense an exhorbadant amount of combined chemical ingredients used in meth? I could imagine a handheld sensor or one that clips onto the patrol car window and when it senses so many excess ppm of the mixed chemicals that it would give off an alarm indication of nearby manufacturing? Is that just a crazy off the wall idea or what?

Or how about if the local or state law enforcement offered up reward money to anonymous tips to catch meth makers in the act? Wouldn't the enticement of money get more witnesses/bystanders to come forward to get the reward money? (I just cant see how neighbors wouldn't smell that stuff being made next door to them. In the news reports they make it sound like it puts out a very foul and strong obvious odor. Is that true?)

 

Drug dealers get there hands on thousands of prescription drugs everyday pseudoephedrine would be no different. The drug problem is pretty out of control and making it a scrip will make such a small dent it probably wont even be noticed.

 

So, I guess 100% LYE is next on the list to be banned?

 

after all the views this thread has gotten, i'm surprised there's not so many votes.


Here's another bill that may help the fight against meth manufacturing.

KTUL.com - Tulsa's Channel 8 - News, Weather & Sports - Meth Bill Approved In State Senate

"...House Bill 2941 would require pharmacies enter purchase information into a real-time electronic methamphetamine precursor tracking service prior to selling drugs like Claritin and Advil Cold and Sinus which contain pseudoephedrine..."