Big pharma's role in meth production

[dbackjon]

The U.S. has seen a proliferation of meth labs since the early 2000s, and pharmaceutical companies are partly to blame, Mother Jones reports.

In 2004, the drug industry fought a long and costly battle against a bill to put pseudoephedrine behind the counter in Oregon, claiming the proposed legislation would do little to curb the proliferation of meth labs in the Beaver State around that time.

According to Rob Bovett, a lawyer for the drug task force in Oregon’s Lincoln County, drug companies and retailers “flooded our Capitol building with lobbyists from out of state.”

The bill became a law in 2006, and the number of meth lab busts in Oregon has dropped 96 percent since then. Meanwhile, drug companies have doubled their lobbying efforts in states such as Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and Indiana — the top four states for meth lab busts in the country.

http://news.yahoo.com/big-pharma-s-role-in-meth-production-151900012.html

[leftstreet]

1. Meh. Meth use in OR is actually higher. Mexican imports!

So while homegrown meth production decreases, actual possession busts are going up, and LE/DEA can get big, big bucks to fight illegal drugs on a bigger scale with bigger gangs!

[dbackjon]

2. Interesting

[leftstreet]

3. Maybe 'The Drug War' didn't mean what we thought

Seems those who profit from it find ways to escalate it anyway

[dbackjon]

4. yeah - big pharma, big prison, etc.

[Socal31]

5. Not sure how you can be for law abiding citizens having restricted access to cold medicine.

It did not solve the meth problem, it just got the cartels involved.

As a bonus side-effect, the now infamous "Shake N' Bake", or "One Pot" method has made every tweaker believe they are a master chemist, and it only takes a couple boxes of pseudo to make some crank.

Edit: I would just like to take this opportunity to again point out that actual Methamphetamine is produced legally by one or two US corporations for prescription use (Desoxyn). So is Cocaine.

Marijuana? Schedule I.

[NoOneMan]

6. Sure, and now everyone is getting high on Oxy and other opiates

Hurray