In our Wise and Benevolent Overlords continued fight to rid us of the scourge of “illegal” drugs two new bills have been introduced in the Arkansas State Legislature. HB1444 and SB437 (both links are to PDF versions of the bills) that would make it impossible for the scurrilous among us to procure over the counter medications that contain the main ingredients necessary in making crystal meth. You know, those medications that go by the names of Chlor Trimeton, Dimetapp, Sudafed, Actifed, Alavert D, etc.
HB1444, sponsored by Rep. Marshall Wright (D – Forrest City), would require a prescription from a doctor to purchase these over the counter medications. SB437, which basically strengthens and clarifies existing law and is sponsored by Sen. Percy Malone (D – Arkadelphia), would require that anyone who purchases these type medications to have a state issued photo ID with date of birth and a functioning magnetic strip or bar code, like an Arkansas drivers license.
There are a couple of things that are especially onerous about these bills. In SB437 in Section 1 “concerning sales limits” the following was added, “a pharmacist shall make a professional determination, based on a pharmacist-patient relationship, as to whether or not there is a legitimate medical and pharmaceutical need for the drug”. In HB1444 in Section 1 under “5-64-208 Substances in Schedule III” states in paragraph (b), “Ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine are designated Schedule III controlled substances in addition to the drugs and other substances listed in Schedule III of the List of Controlled Substances for the State of Arkansas promulgated by the Director of the Department of Health.” Paragraph (c) “Ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine shall be dispensed only by prescription.” Paragraph (d) “It is a defense in any criminal prosecution for possession of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine without a prescription that the ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine was lawfully purchased before the effective date of this section.” At least they aren’t going to “grandfather” in any Sudafed you have in your medicine cabinets at home now.
So there you have it my friends, our Great and Powerful Wizards of Oz are going to save us all by making sure that our pharmacists are keeping track of any of the unsavory elements in our society and, as we surely don’t have anything to hide, to help them in this endeavor we will be required to provide a State (or Federal) photo ID, as long as it ALSO has your date of birth and a functioning magnetic strip or bar code. If that isn’t enough, well we’ll just have to run down to the local doctors office (and be charged for an office visit by the way) and get a prescription for over the counter medication. By making all of us good, honest, hard working, tax paying citizens jump through all these hoops, you know like the trained animals at the circus, they will eliminate the source of the main ingredients for meth and in doing so will end the traffic in the illicit drug by proxy. The same way they have eliminated murder, pot smoking, cocaine snorting, prostitution, moonshine and Cuban cigars.
There is a bible verse from Matthew that is appropriate here, “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”
