In your neck of the woods : having to "register" to buy cold medicine?

[largentdepoche]

I'm not one of those "off to the fort" types of people but it was alittle strange what happened today.

My mom was buying cold medicine and asthma medicine for me, and the checkout clerk had to see my Mom's ID, then she wrote down some things in a log and my Mom had to sign it.

I'm a believer of "render unto caesers what is his" but this seemed alittle over the top, invasive of my Mom's privacy.

Is it this way in your neck of the woods? Does the gov't really need to know my Mom bought OTC cold meds for high blood pressure?

Please keep this civil and not " AHHHH apoclypse"...I'm just wondering if this is standard practice in the rest of America.

Kat

[largentdepoche]

ps- I know this is a way to deter people who use OTC cold meds to make drugs.

[EarlsNan]

It's very standard practice. In fact, it's now a federal law. Sad isn't it?

[largentdepoche]

Originally Posted by EarlsNan

It's very standard practice. In fact, it's now a federal law. Sad isn't it?

Oh okay that's good to know. It is very sad I agree.

Kat

[suburbanite]

The problem is you can make methamphetamine out of some of those cold products. The tracking system was implemented to identify those folk buying enough of it to go into 'business', so to speak.

[culpeper]

Get used to it. It should have started many years ago. Those OTC medications can be used to manufacture street drugs, but also they can be very addictive in themselves. Thank goodness the authorities have woken up at last.

[Sherri C]

There's even a politician who wants people to have to sign a form and show ID to buy baking soda because you can use it to make crack cocaine.

[Terri]

I have been doing it for a year, now.

I am glad that the pharmacist knows that I have a family, otherwise I would be hesitant to admit that I need TWO large boxes! When one of us gets a cold, the rest usually follow!

[doozie]

Chicago suburbs, maybe all of IL??
You can only buy 2 items at a time with the ingredients needed to make meth. (I guess). and now I think that product is kept with the pharmacy. Too bad for the companies that include the ingredient, I cant be bothered to go and basically ask permission to buy their product, or wait at the pharmacy. I just give their competition my interests.
What backwards thinking. If I wanted it for any purpose, I would just go to all the different stores and get 2 here and 2 there...I dont think they take personal information from you here yet, and what would they do with it anyway, I dont think there is some big cold meds database anyone is checking on.
I do find it a little invasive.

[suzyhomemaker09]

Yep...cold meds and also " strong iodine" the good 7% stuff, have to sign away your firstborn to get it too. It is invasive..but TBH I think it is a good thing that it's being regulated and or monitored. Now if they could figure out some way to do this with alot of other things we'd be in a much better place.

[tink67]

When my 2 yr old got a cold last winter, I had to go to Walgreens to get some medicine. The kind I wanted wasn't on the shelf but there was a little sign that said the meds had been moved behind the counter and to ask the pharmacist for it. She had to see my drivers license and she had to input my info into her computer. It seemed very weird to me but I guess it serves a purpose.

[menollyrj]

I HATE it too, but it is the law here. TN has a huge meth problem. I just quit buying the "real" sudafed (pseudoephedrine or something like that) and buy the sudafed PE (phenylephrine, I think). The PE doesn't require your driver's license, signature, mother's maiden name, birth certificate, three forms of ID, etc...). Okay, so I'm exaggerating, but I HATE giving all that information!

-Joy

[RockyGlen]

Well - I do NOT think it is a good thing. Maybe they should be giving out stronger penalties to criminals rather than punishing law abiding citizens. Those stupid federal guidelines limit how much you can purchase at one time, and during one month.

When we all got sick I tried to buy 1 bottle of infant drops. 1 box of toddler chewables. 1 bottle of childrens medicine. and 1 box of adult medicine. if you add up the doses and divide by my family, that would have been a 3 day supply. Not only could I not buy all that at one time - I could not buy all that in one month!

So I had to take everyone to the doctor for a stupid cold just to get some medicine to alleviate the congestion symptoms. Thankfully my doctor charged me 1 office visit instead of 9, and then she wrote me a prescription for a years supply of medicine.

[Oggie]

I know it's part of an effort to stem the meth epidemic, but the spooky guy who lives to the west of us once told me that they do it so that, when government takes full control and it comes time to cull the herd, they'll already have a list of people who frequently are ill.

[Selena]

Sure do if it contains certain ingredients. Also you need to show ID to buy certain baby formula. Heaven forbid with deal with the root cause of the meth problem instead of a symptom of it. And before anyone jumps on the soapbox and reports # of meth labs have decreased, the amount of meth has not. It just comes in from Mexico through the main distribution hub of Atlanta GA.

[LittleRedHen]

While it can be used to create Meth, there are just as many things out there that is still being used to make Meth but it just causes a huge inconvience to people who are just sick and need some medication. I know a large family who cannot even buy all the medication they need when all of their family is sick because they would go over the limits . I am against gov't control and when you are sick, it sure sucks that you are told you cannot buy your kids cough medicine because you are over your limit for the time period.

[Burbsteader]

We have to sign for any pseudoephedrine (Sudafed).

Also I cannot buy the various cold remedies we need when we get sick. I remember going through the line at a store with one bottle each of a few different medications and could only buy 3. These meds had totally different active ingredients. I had 2 sick kids and a sick hubby at home. I was not amused.

What happens is that someone, probably someone's secretary, goes through and writes down all of the products that are used for colds and they are all labelled equally as something that must be treated as a 'controlled substance'.

Yet another example of people being ID'd, tagged, categorized and controlled. Oh, but it is to protect us! What a crock.

[Boleyz]

This particular regulation of sudafed has cut methamphetamine production by over 70% in our area.

You have to show an ID to buy a beer...why all the whining? Deal with a few meth addicts and you might reconsider...

[RockyGlen]

If it were just a matter of showing ID, it would still be an invasion of privacy, but I could deal with it. However, as I stated above, I am not allowed to buy enough medicine for my family. Even if I brought in all the birth certificates - I asked. And there is no way to apply for a waiver. So our only recourse was to go to the Dr. and get a perscription...thankfully, she told me to just call in the future and she would call it in.

It has not cut meth use here at all - I don't know about production maybe they are getting it from elsewhere, but there has not been a decline in the arrests around here.

[largentdepoche]

Thanks for all the replies!

In GA they just have a paper log book stuffed underneath the counter and ANYONE could steal it, God Forbid, and get alot of personal info on all sorts of people. I have a big beef with that since identity theft in America is a huge problem.

@tink67, we had that little card too for my bronchial meds. The checkout lady had to dig under and unlock a box to get the pills for me and my Mom.

In Finland our pharmacies are gov't controlled so I'm used to it...it just feels weird it's in America now. In Finland you have to register and specially order rubbing alcohol because drunks will drink it.

We had to have a special system too where we checked out with this BIG folders since pills have gotten so expensive overseas, people shoplift their own medicines now .

Katrina