By George Anderson
Despite 20 years of fighting the illegal manufacture and use of methamphetamine in the U.S., the drug is at the peak of its popularity and is said to have reached epidemic proportions in some communities.
The nation's lawmakers have taken notice and there is a bipartisan move in Washington to pass legislation that would severely restrict the sale of legal products containing pseudoephedrine or PSE (the main ingredient in meth) in retail stores.
According to a report in the Palm Beach Post, "If the bipartisan proposal passes muster on Capitol Hill, photo IDs could be required to buy such common and popular drugs as NyQuil and Sudafed. Written logs of who purchased the drugs, and how much was purchased, would be mandatory."
Many see this as the government overreaching, making life more difficult for law-abiding citizens and businesses.
Randy Miller, senior vice president of government affairs for the Florida Retail Federation, called the proposal "draconian."
In Florida, state law requires medicines made up with pseudoephedrine to be sold from behind the counter with a limit of three packages per purchase.
National figures peg the percentage of methamphetamine made from product bought in U.S. retail stores as 20 percent of the total. Most of the illegal drug in the country comes from labs outside the U.S.
Some manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble with its Vicks line of products, have taken steps to bypass the PSE issue by developing cough/cold remedies that do not contain the ingredient.
Moderator's Comment: Has the war on meth and other drugs been lost? Is it time for the retail industry to get behind proposals other than the current criminalization model to address drug abuse in society and the workplace? - George Anderson - Moderator