…has added his name to the new law that would require cold and flu medicines to only be sold at pharmacies, be kept behind the counter, and require a ID, signature, and registry of customers who bought them. Bayh says a similar law in Oklahoma has “driven down meth lab seizures by more than 80 percent,” whatever that means.

Jacob Sullum notes that the law isn’t likley to do a damn thing to reduce the meth supply, considering that 80% of domestic meth comes from Mexican suppliers who buy pseudoephedrine — the ingredient found in cold medications that have politicians so up in arms — in bulk. Big-time meth producers don’t have time to punch foil perforations and pop open capsules.

My favorite part of this story, though, is the way in which Bayh appeases Hoosiers who may be nervous about further federal intrusion into their medicine cabinets:

“Your ordinary, law-abiding citizen isn’t going to object,” he said.

In other words, if you have a problem with it, you’re probably a drug dealer.

Subtle.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 27th, 2005 at 7:13 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.