In article , "DGDevin" wrote:
"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...


It's not just a convenience issue. OTC, store brand equivalents of Sudafed are
about five bucks for a box of two dozen doses. Adding a visit to a physician
to get a prescription raises the cost by a factor of eight.

I assume you see your doctor once a year even if you're in good health, so
it's not like you'd need to make a special trip. And once you have a
prescription a phone call is usually all that is needed to renew it.
[...]
Yes, that's all true, but why should the law-abiding be the ones to suffer for
the acts of the lawless? I think this bill in Indiana is going to pass, and I
predict that shortly after it becomes law we're going to see a significant
increase in armed robberies at pharmacies.

More than that, though, is the utter impossibility of ever stopping the drug
problem by attacking the supply side.

It worked with Quaaludes, the limited number of mfg. meant it was possible
to choke it off. It hasn't totally disappeared but you rarely even hear of
it these days.

And the net effect on the drug problem was nil, as the abusers simply switched
to different drugs that were easier to obtain.

Attacking the supply side *cannot* stop the problem. We tried that in the 20s
with alcohol. It didn't work. We've been trying it for more than 40 years with
pot, meth, cocaine, you name it, and it's not working.

As long as demand exists, someone will
produce a supply to satisfy that demand.

Sure, the profit motive is a powerful force. But in the case of in effect
synthetic drugs which require certain raw ingredients it's possible to
restrict the supply of those ingredients and thus sharply reduce the
quantity and strength of what appears on the street. This has already
happened with meth, the strength of what is sold on the street has gone down
as restrictions of products containing the raw ingredients have taken hold.
I agree we're never going to stamp it out, but judging by what happened with
Quaaludes we can sure knock it down in a way we will never be able to do
with any drug derived from a plant.

And the abusers will switch to drugs with plant sources. That accomplishes
what, exactly?