Should pseudoephedrine be by prescription only in Oklahoma?

[Conan71]

News in recent days is saying up to 1/3 of all burn center patients in problem meth areas across the nation are there as a result of a "shake-n-bake" explosion.  It's high time we do something different.  I suspect that allergy sufferers can live without pseudo ephedrine.  Burn victims cannot live without burn centers. It's time to prioritize and push better alternatives for honest allergy sufferers.

ST. LOUIS — A crude new method of making methamphetamine poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment — a burden so costly that it's contributing to the closure of some burn units.

So-called shake-and-bake meth is produced by combining raw, unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle. But if the person mixing the noxious brew makes the slightest error, such as removing the cap too soon or accidentally perforating the plastic, the concoction can explode, searing flesh and causing permanent disfigurement, blindness or even death.
An Associated Press survey of key hospitals in the nation's most active meth states showed that up to a third of patients in some burn units were hurt while making meth, and most were uninsured. The average treatment costs $6,000 per day. And the average meth patient's hospital stay costs $130,000 — 60 percent more than other burn patients, according to a study by doctors at a burn center in Kalamazoo, Mich.

The influx of patients is overwhelming hospitals and becoming a major factor in the closure of some burn wards. At least seven burn units across the nation have shut down over the past six years, partly due to consolidation but also because of the cost of treating uninsured patients, many of whom are connected to methamphetamine.

http://health.heraldtribune.com/2012/01/23/burn-injuries-from-meth-labs-overwhelm-some-hospitals/

[custosnox]

News in recent days is saying up to 1/3 of all burn center patients in problem meth areas across the nation are there as a result of a "shake-n-bake" explosion.  It's high time we do something different.  I suspect that allergy sufferers can live without pseudo ephedrine.  Burn victims cannot live without burn centers. It's time to prioritize and push better alternatives for honest allergy sufferers.

There are many other ingredients that are necessary to do this, why not take those out of the equation?  Muriatic acid is one such ingredient, people could find something else to balance their pools and clean their concrete.  Or we could just outlaw acetone, I'm sure there is something else that can remove nail polish just as well. 

[Townsend]

Muriatic acid is one such ingredient, people could find something else to balance their pools and clean their concrete. 

The Hell you say.

[custosnox]

The Hell you say.

My thoughts on being told I can find something else when my allergies are out of control like they have been the last few weeks.

[Conan71]

There are many other ingredients that are necessary to do this, why not take those out of the equation?  Muriatic acid is one such ingredient, people could find something else to balance their pools and clean their concrete.  Or we could just outlaw acetone, I'm sure there is something else that can remove nail polish just as well.  

Too many other useful applications for both of those substances plus there are other ways to convert pseudo into meth.  Get rid of the precursor.

I have bad nasal allergies as well which I've managed without the use of pseudo ephedrine ever since it went behind the counter.

[Gaspar]

Flonase changed my life!

I haven't had allergies in 3 or 4 years now.  I used to be crippled in the spring and fall.  Flonase takes about a month to start working, because it's a steroid, but after that point, you are raking leaves, sniffing flowers, and hugging kittys.

[nathanm]

Long term steroid use is much worse for you than occasional pseudoephedrine use.

[Gaspar]

Long term steroid use is much worse for you than occasional pseudoephedrine use.

It's a very low-dose cortical with no real side effects for adults.  Corticals in small children can stunt growth.
The effects of my frequent sinus infections and the corresponding antibiotics necessary when they became infected, along with lost work, pain and misery are far worse for me than Flonase could ever be.

Besides my alcohol abuse helps mask the side effects of any of my other therapeutic drugs.

[Conan71]

Long term steroid use is much worse for you than occasional pseudoephedrine use.

Unfortunately, pseudoephedrine converted to meth represents a far worse social problem for all of us than cortical steroids.

That's definitely one substance which is not helping social mobility.

[custosnox]

Unfortunately, pseudoephedrine converted to meth represents a far worse social problem for all of us than cortical steroids.

That's definitely one substance which is not helping social mobility.

even if we make it impossible to get ahold of pseudoephedrine, do you really think that is going to fix the problem?  Looking around on the net to see what all it takes to make meth and I found a posting with the exact directions.  While I'm not surprised at this, some of the comments made just makes it even scarier.  But when you look at what all is used to make this crap, it's obvious that these people are willing to put together anything and everything to to get the desired result.  They will find a way to screw themselves up,  and they don't care who it takes out along the way, even if it's themselves.  So do you really think that making this one product harder to get is really going to do anything more than cause an inconvenience for those of us using it properly?

[Conan71]

even if we make it impossible to get ahold of pseudoephedrine, do you really think that is going to fix the problem?  Looking around on the net to see what all it takes to make meth and I found a posting with the exact directions.  While I'm not surprised at this, some of the comments made just makes it even scarier.  But when you look at what all is used to make this crap, it's obvious that these people are willing to put together anything and everything to to get the desired result.  They will find a way to screw themselves up,  and they don't care who it takes out along the way, even if it's themselves.  So do you really think that making this one product harder to get is really going to do anything more than cause an inconvenience for those of us using it properly?

I'm not saying make it harder to get, I'm saying ban it all together.  We've already seen the failure in "make it harder to get".

You can't make pseudoephedrine-based meth without pseudoephedrine.  If there is no base to make the substance, people will cease to make it and we will cease to have exploding meth labs and billions in unpaid medical bills from such explosions.  This isn't simply a matter of tweakers harming themselves.  Children and neighbors are routinely killed in meth lab explosions.

It's proven there are other successful treatments for nasal allergies out there and you probably should get used to them.  It's only a matter of time before the FDA bans pseudo.

[nathanm]

It's proven there are other successful treatments for nasal allergies out there and you probably should get used to them.  It's only a matter of time before the FDA bans pseudo.

I think of you next time my ears won't pop on the way down and I'm in excruciating pain for days because I can't go buy some bucking psuedoephedrine. Unless you're aware of another nonprescription drug that acts quickly to clear out one's passages, that is. Phenylephrine is not that drug, by the way. It does absolutely nothing for me. It may as well be a sugar pill.

[custosnox]

I'm not saying make it harder to get, I'm saying ban it all together.  We've already seen the failure in "make it harder to get".

You can't make pseudoephedrine-based meth without pseudoephedrine.  If there is no base to make the substance, people will cease to make it and we will cease to have exploding meth labs and billions in unpaid medical bills from such explosions.  This isn't simply a matter of tweakers harming themselves.  Children and neighbors are routinely killed in meth lab explosions.

It's proven there are other successful treatments for nasal allergies out there and you probably should get used to them.  It's only a matter of time before the FDA bans pseudo.

My point still stands.  It's not just a matter of keeping pseudoephedrine from them (which outlawing has done so much for other drugs), it's that these people will find something else, and will risk whatever they have to to get it, which means that they cycle continues.  Find a way to break the cycle, not shift it to something else.

[AquaMan]

You still have to run a cost-benefits analysis of some sort with the issue. As Conan says, on balance the cost is greater to do nothing. You're sinuses are not as bad as the increase in burn unit populations. Unless you just assert that the problem will disappear through attrition. IOW, those who are stupid, abused, lacking in self esteem and discipline will eventually just burn themselves up.

[Red Arrow]

Or we could just outlaw acetone, I'm sure there is something else that can remove nail polish just as well. 

And remove adhesive residue, thin polyester paint and more.