Roscoe Reynolds’ war on Sudafed
By Norman Leahy | Thursday, September 29th, 2011 | Politics, Southside, VirginiaDemocrat Roscoe Reynolds, in the midst of a tough fight to retain the state Senate seat he’s warmed since the late 1990s, has decided that the best way to combat the spread of crystal meth is to make common decongestants and allergy medications Schedule III controlled substances available only by prescription:
A proposed law, sponsored by state Sen. Roscoe Reynolds, D-Martinsville, would re-classify household allergy medicines, such as Claritin-D and Sudafed, as Schedule III controlled substances — on par with addictive painkillers, such as Vicodin, and one step above Rohypnol, a powerful sleeping pill sometimes used by rapists to knock out their victims.
Roscoe’s law aims to crack down on those who use pseudoephedrine in allergy medications to cook up methamphetamine, or meth. The proposed classification would move the nasal decongestants behind the counter, available only to those with a prescription from a doctor.
No one can question that meth inflicts horrific damage on its users and their communities. But in order to stop the malefactors, Reynolds would punish allergy sufferers — not to mention driving up health care costs.
But the real problem with meth production is far beyond any Virginia politician’s control:
…10 percent of meth is manufactured locally; the other 90 percent of Virginia’s meth is supplied by Mexican drug cartels.
Unless Mr. Reynolds has a proposal to stop the cartels, who very likely don’t bother getting prescriptions for their pseudoephedrine, his bill would do precious little to stem the meth tide.
That, combined with the general skepticism Crime Commission members voiced towards Reynolds’ idea, may mean it goes nowhere.
However, as a political tool, it still has uses. Reynolds can employ it to show he’s serious about busting up the meth labs and punishing the perps. He’s tough, tough as nails, on drug users — so vote this November to keep law and order Roscoe in the state Senate!
It might even work. Right up until the ragweed blooms and Virginia’s bleary-eyed, congested millions wonder why on earth they have to get a prescription for Sudafed.
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About the author
Norm Leahy has written about Virginia and national politics online since 2002, beginning with One Man's Trash (OMT), and continuing through Bacon's Rebellion (both the blog and the e-zine), Sic Semper Tyrannis, NBC12's Decision Virginia, Richmond.com and Tertium Quids. He is the chief blogger at "The Score" and a producer of "The Score" radio show as well as being a Washington Post contributor.
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10 Responses to "Roscoe Reynolds’ war on Sudafed"
On behalf of allergy-sufferers, what a dumb-ass!!!
On behalf of allergy-suffererd, what a dumb-ass!!!
Perhaps Democrat Roscoe Reynolds should go buy Sudafed. Then ask the State to show him the record of his purchase.
When you buy Sudafed, you go to a pharmacy and must show a picture ID. The info from the picture ID goes into a state wide data base.
That is more then enough regulation and control.
There is also an upcoming FDA ban on Primatene mist which is an over the counter inhaler for asthma because it contains CFCs. The ban is because the US joined the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer international agreement and the FDA panel voted 11-7 that Primatene Mist “didn’t serve an essential health need” for over 3 million people who use the product each year for asthma attacks. This is an example of where an Obamacare agency is using an environmental agreement to ban a specific product that was previously FDA approved and used by millions of Americans.
Start stockpiling because Primatene Mist will be going for big bucks on Ebay 1 January 2012, unless they also totally ban sale of it on the grey market and send out the Primatene Police to arrest and jail offenders.
Re: Reynolds position….can’t remember when an anti-drug position, even a stupid anti-drug position, ever hurt anybody in an election year.
Roscoe Reynolds’ war on Sudafed would cost the citizens of Virginia millions of dollars in unnecessary medical expenses.
Sudafed and tylenol are your best treatment for flu.
Do you really want a politician like this in Richmond?
If the FDA would make albuterol inhalers over the counter, that would be a fair trade. Or better yet make all asthma inhalers non-prescription.
If the US dropped out of the Montreal Protocol, then could use CFC with inhalers which would lower prices.
A CFC albuterol inhaler should retail for about $5.
The main point of my comment was the Government precedent of using environmental policy to ban an over the counter medication. This is a little off from the Sudafed topic and maybe Norm or another contributor would consider this topic in a separate post.
Roscoe Reynolds should be more worried about jobs since his district has the highest unemployment in the state.Roscoe have been working for the people in his district instead of listening to Boss Hog/Ward Armstrong.
Making these drugs prescription dispensed medicines has a significant economic effect. They will be paid for by health insurance plans, esp. Medicare Part D, instead of by consumers. That will allow Big Pharma to raise the prices for the drugs at the expense of health insurance premiums and the taxpayers. When the FDA proposed several years ago to make Claritin and Allegra non-prescription medications, the pharmaceutical lobby fought hard to prevent it. Once they became over-the-counter meds, their cost decreased by over two-thirds to keep them competitive with Sudafed and other non-prescription drugs.
Thanks a lot, Roscoe, for looking out for the taxpayers and those who pay health insurance premiums. What a mucking foron.
Something I used to buy at Sam’s Club for $3.00 now causes me great hassle because I have to stand in the prescription line for something that is not a prescription. And, pay alot more money for it.
I brought this up to the Gov years ago. Went in one ear and out the other.
For those without sinus congestion or allergies, you are lucky.
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