One more reason to love Big Pharma

[MsGuy]

Anyone still remember the situation with amphetamines back in the 60's? Black mollies and white crosses (trucker dope ) were everywhere. Back then, year in and year out, the pharma industry cranked out 4 or 5 times the total amount legally prescribed in the US and nobody blinked an eye. In the early 70's, folks got tired of dealing with all those burned out speed freaks and the Feds clamped down, required the industry to reduce production to about 150% of legal demand and to keep some elementary records of who they delivered the stuff to. Problem solved (well, the transportation industry couldn't afford to reduce production to 100% of legal demand ).

So what are the big pharma companies up to now? Only selling about 2 to 4 times the amount of pseudoephedrine actually used to clear up our runny noses. Their numbers, not mine. Turns out pseudoephedrine is the only precusor ingredient in the recipe for meth ( ) that you need a real factory lab to make. And guess who lobbies against any effort to place pseudoephedrine back on the list of prescription medications?

"Sales of products containing pseudoephedrine in the United States now amount to nearly $600 million a year. Yet, according to the pharmaceutical industry, only 15 million Americans use the drug to treat their stuffed-up noses, and these people typically buy no more than a package or two ($10 to $20 worth) a year." Full Article Link

Mind you I'm not saying that Big Pharma would ever knowingly supply the key chemical to support the meth epidemic in the US, not for a measly couple of hundred million bucks in extra profit. It would be irresponsible liberal demagoguery to suggest any such thing.

[RA1]

Aren't these required by law to be "off the shelves" and under the direct supervision and control of the pharmacist? In the grand scheme of things that may not be much of a deterrent but it tends to keep folks from shoplifting these drugs and buying a dozen at a time.

Best regards,

RA1

[BiBottomBoy]

The thing is you don't actually need pseudoephedrine to make meth. There are several different recipes that will get the job done. Pseudoephedrine does happen to be the safest way outside a lab to make meth, however, and I suspect the feds would rather that recipe be used than the old biker meth black ice methods which are much, much more prone to cause big explosions.

So, they make it hard for small time asshole fucks up to get their hands on enough pseudoephedrine to to kill themselves at the amonia gas stage, but leave enough extra supply out there so that cookers who know what they are doing will use pseudoephedrine rather than the alternatives.

I took a "Pharmacology Of Nartotics" class in college and you would not believe how many different ways there are to build methamphetamine.

That said, pseudoephedrine isn't only used to make meth, it's also one of the ingredients used to synthesize MDMA, a much more profitable drug, so I'm sure a lot of it goes to that market as well.

Plus, the US Armed Forces also buy meth in bulk for their own uses.