Sudafederalized?Nobody disputes the fact that methamphetamine -- meth, as it is commonly called -- is dangerous in a multiplicity of ways, from the harm it does to an individual's well-being to the damage that trade in the illegal drug does to communities and society. Yet a measure in Congress to fight the meth trade resembles squirrel-hunting with a howitzer.
A Senate bill would require consumers purchasing over-the-counter cold medicines such as Sudafed and NyQuil to show their IDs and sign a document to make their purchase -- because such nostrums contain pseudo- ephedrine, which can be used to make meth. The bill also would limit the amount of cold medicine an individual could buy each month.
Roughly 1.3 million Americans used meth last year. Probably only a few thousand made the stuff. By contrast, how many millions of Americans will catch a cold this year? It's true that when Oklahoma imposed similar restrictions on cold remedies, the number of illegal meth labs in the state plunged. But the logic of federalizing Sudafed control resembles the logic of gun control: Because a tiny fraction of persons misuse a legal product, the implicit reasoning goes, everyone should suffer inconvenience and government monitoring.
In essence, the bill before Congress presumes a buyer of cold medicine is up to no good. If that's the case, then why stop with cold medicine? Why not register the purchase of coffee filters, which can be used in meth production -- or Mason jars, which also can?
There is a better way to fight the alarming spread of meth use. It involves (a) rigorously ferretting out drug dealers and giving them long prison sentences, and (b) getting meth users into a good drug-treatment program to break the cycle of addiction. Neither remedy is as easy as passing sweepingly ill-advised restrictions on Sudafed, Tylenol Cold Medicine, and other common pharmaceuticals. But they would work -- without treating like criminals millions who simply seek relief from the sniffles.
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