Ravenwood - 10/06/05 06:15 AM
Over at Grits for Breakfast, Scott Hensen notes that the War on Sudafed isn't quite going as planned.
Despite all the hype, Oklahoma's new anti-meth law turned out to be less than OK. Backers touted the idea as a national model. (Indeed, Texas followed the Okies' lead this spring by requiring pseudoephedrine, which is used to make homemade meth, to be sold only from behind the counter, and customers must sign for the purchase.) Now it turns out the much-ballyhooed new law hasn't worked at all, instead opening up the market for violent Mexican drug cartels.Such is the law of economics. Increased regulation forced the price to go up and the black market naturally stepped up to the plate and meet the lucrative demand. Plus there's no regulation, no product safety, no disincentive to sell to minors, and you get all the goodies that come along with organized crime.
It's the same scenario that plays out year after year in ban after ban. During prohibition you could get a drink that may or may not make you go blind, for about 10 times the price of what it used to cost. In New York gangs are killing each other in turf wars over selling bootlegged cigarettes, while the state loses tax money and their regulatory power to keep minors from smoking. Whether your banning/regulating/taxing guns, cigarettes, or whatever, the same scenario plays out over again.
Banning sudafed is yet another classic example of insanity. That is, when something doesn't work, do it again only harder. (Apologies to Kevin Baker.) Meanwhile, the law-abiding are forced to live with head colds.
Category: Pleasure Police
Comments (5) top link me
Where's the black market for phenylpropanolamine?
They banned that (``Dexatrim'') and it was the simplest, cheapest (penny a day instead of a dollar a day) treatment for canine urinary incontinence.
The other treatment is DES, which they banned as well.
Posted by: Ron Hardin at October 6, 2005 7:41 AMRon,
Dunno, but I've received several emails offering to sell me viagra. Perhaps you could check with one of those guys.
Posted by: Ravenwood at October 6, 2005 7:58 AMOur preoccupation with regulating and controlling back-fires every single time. Without exception. What is scary, is that the public always signs up for this crap.
Drunk drivers? Let's crap on the constitution and allow no-probable cause searches just to make sure we're safe.
Fill in the blanks for cigarettes, porn, drugs, whatever. If someone want a vice, they'll find a way to get it.
Posted by: The Other Mike S at October 6, 2005 12:51 PMCapitalism will always prevail over laws against stpidity, and by stupidity. The shine of free market enterprise cannot be tarnished.
Posted by: GrampaPinhead at October 6, 2005 7:08 PMWhere's the black market for phenylpropanolamine? -Posted by: Ron Hardin
Ron, I think phenylpropanolamine was voluntarily banned due to the fact that it's also a meth precursor. Research is ongoing for a blog post, but in this usenet message, back in 2000, suggest getting a prescription for the dog and taking it to a compounding pharmacy.
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.pets.dogs.behavior/msg/9de9efede58d26a2
�Compounding� is the key word here. If you find something out, could you shoot me an email? I'm at �null� at [my blog url displayed below]. Thanks.
(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
