vakkotaur

Despite my efforts at moderating the effects of a cold with high doses of vitamin C and soothing a sore throat with salt and such, the cold went up a level and added the stuffy nose. Dagnabbit. The sore throat I can handle without anything special. But now something more was needed.

So this noon I stop at a store to get some Sudafed or such. I was a bit surprised to not see any generics. Then I had to look through all the combinations of Sudafed. Most had acetaminophen or cough suppressants or such. But I don't have any really aches, any cough I have is mild - and I haven't met a non-prescription cough suppressant yet that seemed to really work. So no need to go with the extras. And finally there it was, plain old Sudafed, nasal decongestant, nice plain pseudoephedrine hydrochloride.

It used to be one could buy this stuff and that was that. It still is, almost. Under the plain stuff, next to the price tag, was a notice. This notice was for a reward for information leading to the discovery of a meth lab. Yep, the stuff is a precursor to meth. Don't stock up, you'll look suspicious. There were no similar signs by the other versions - they were mixes and perhaps wouldn't work for the illegal purpose.

The sign wasn't exactly a surprise. I'd heard for some time that "large" pseudoephedrine purchases were suspect if not actually illegal. It's just this was first time I encountered it directly, which perhaps shows how long since I last needed the stuff. What I find amusing is how the warnings about large purchases are so well known. It doesn't take a genius to see a way around making big purchases. But then, who said meth makers were smart?