And the Winner of the War on Meth is…Cocaine
Anytime you apply pressure in the war on drugs, the market just shifts to accommodate the new conditions. Thus, efforts to crack down on domestic methamphetamine production by limiting access to precursor chemicals may have reduced meth cooking, but they have not stopped people from snorting drugs and getting all tweaked out:
Of course, we were already going after cocaine, so now what? We've restricted access to pseudo-ephedrine based cold medicines in order to stop people from getting high, but all it did was boost the cocaine market. It seems the only people who can't get the drugs they need are allergy sufferers.
While methamphetamine remains a problem in Oregon City, arrests for possession have been declining. Arrests for cocaine possession, however, increased from 2006 to 2007. That trend is mirrored statewide.
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Officials point to the similarity of the effects of the drugs as a major reason for cocaine's comeback.
"Meth addicts have a need for a certain amount of energy," said Detective Jim Strovink of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. "Heroin makes people laid-back, so that's not really for them. They're finding they can get the same high with cocaine. That's where they're getting their jolt." [The Oregonian]
Of course, we were already going after cocaine, so now what? We've restricted access to pseudo-ephedrine based cold medicines in order to stop people from getting high, but all it did was boost the cocaine market. It seems the only people who can't get the drugs they need are allergy sufferers.
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Amen to that ...
The old Sudafed was a godsend for my sinus headaches. During allergy season back east I used to buy generics at BJ's, 3 boxes of 96 each cost me less than $8.00
Now, here in Oregon I need a prescription and one box of 96 costs close to $10.
Thanks drug warriors. My life is SO much better now that you've once again saved us from ourselves.
me too
I have horrible allergies even though I have undergone desensitization therapy (where you are tested for sensitivity to allergens and then given gradually increasing doses of the stuff so that you build up immunity). I used to treat the problem safely, effectively, and cheaply with a 24-hour Claritin-D pill once a day. But because I got tired of being treated like a criminal every time I had to purchase medicine (to say nothing of the time wasted standing in line twice a month, plus the fact that sometimes I couldn't purchase enough medicine to get me through the month because there are restrictions on how much medicine you can purchase and how frequently you can purchase it), I finally became fed up with the system and DEMANDED that my doctor write me a prescription for 24-hour Allegra-D.
The result? Instead of spending $10 a month for over-the-counter medicine I now pay a $25/month copay for a medicine which retails for $125. So, I get fucked, the insurance company gets fucked, and big pharma makes $100/month off me and thousands more like me. Hmmmm.....
Yeah, thanks a bundle --
I've been around both drugs and users of both drugs for a long time, and my observation and personal experience is that cocaine is MUCH more addictive and MUCH deadlier than meth.
Actually, with the exception of marijuana, just about anything is deadlier than meth; more proof, as if more proof were needed, that prohibition has absolutely nothing to do with protecting anybody from drugs.
Here in AZ, the real thing (Sudaphed) is still available if you want to stand in line and show ID and sign a book -- presumed guilty.
What really gets me, though, are the signs in Safeway, "For your CONVENIENCE, products containing ephedrine are available in the pharmacy."
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[email protected],Vancouver,B.C.Canada About all the nasty things that go into meth is our governments idea of money well spent.They bust labs with millions of ex pills and think they'll scare people by showing the precursors to meth manufacture.Meanwhile,people that want treatment can't find it.Maybe if they just forced them to watch the ads.
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