I completely sympathize with Megan McArdle over the process for getting Sudafed. Is there a constituency that’s really pushing this kind of law? Or is this how far our political class as sunk in terms of how they view their fellow citizens?
If you click through the link she supplies to Overlawyered here:
For a while now, lawyers in Minnesota, Oklahoma and elsewhere have been suing companies that make over-the-counter cold remedies containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine on the grounds that they were aware some buyers were using the drugs as raw material for illegal methamphetamine labs. Now such litigation appears to be gaining momentum in Arkansas, where many county governments have signed up to sue Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and other companies. “If successful, it could open up litigation against manufacturers of other produce used in making meth, such as drain cleaners and acetone.”
Those of us in the gun blogosphere are all too familiar with this tactic, since it was also used on gun manufacturers.
I’m about ready to start imposing harsh penalties on judges who allow bullshit lawsuits.
Some hoplophobes would also impose those kinds of idiotic laws on those who have the unfortunate incident of their firearms being stolen.
I suppose it is just too difficult to try and track down and prosecute the criminals, so you may as well go after the companies. At least you know where they are, right?
I posted a while back on the fact that the DEA had, without any legislative process, criminalized iodine because it is used in drug manufacture. Yes it is believable that lye and acetone will follow. Strictly speaking, your pineal gland is already illegal, since it contains natural traces of the psychedelic DMT.
As for the restrictions on cold medicine, the benificiaries of those laws are the motorcycle “clubs” and Mexican catels who produce methamphetamine in large quantities. Their market share has gone up significantly now that it is harder for tweakers to cook small batches of crank.
and the whole country gets screwed out of being able to get cold medicine that actually works