Lounge in Luxury

So one aspect of my job is dealing with people who want to buy medicine with pseudoephedrine (PSE) in it (examples include Claritin-D, Zyrtec-D, the original Sudafed, Advil Cold & Sinus, etc). Medicines that contain PSE are hugely effective, and for many people, they are the only things that will work to treat sinus problems. These are all over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, but are kept behind the counter because of people who make Crystal Meth. You see, one of the most common ingredients in meth is PSE. Meth makers will buy a medicine containing PSE, and extract it from the medicine to use in their special little cocktail.

Because of this, the federal government enacted a law that requires all pharmacies to control the sale of anything containing PSE. We are required to track every sale and tie it to the purchaser's State ID. Each person is only allowed to purchase a certain amount of PSE in a certain amount of days. There are a few problems with this though: (1) If someone has a fake ID or data is entered incorrectly by someone previously, we must give benefit of the doubt, and (2) It's a gigantic pain in the ass for all people involved.

Because of this, a lot of pharmacies have opted to keep all of their products hidden from view from any customer, and purposely leave our shelves "empty" where customers can see. Then, when someone asks if we have any, our job is to make a judgement call on whether or not this person seems legit, and then ask the pharmacist if we've "gotten any in today". Then the pharmacist will make their own call and either we ring it up, or we're "all out". These calls are usually based on a combination of any number of things including speech, physical characteristics, mannerisms, and whether or not they appear sick. None of these necessarily qualify or disqualify someone. A lot of times we truly do not have any in stock, but many times we are refusing a sale without saying we're refusing the sale. There's really no way of knowing which is going on, so it's pointless to wonder.

Even with all of this, meth labs are still getting their supplies. Because of this, a rumor we're hearing a lot lately (and one that is more than likely true, though not yet confirmed) is that these drugs will be going to a prescription-only basis beginning in October. Chances are this will be the step that finally makes a difference, at least as far as PSE's go. In the very least, it's going to make my job a lot easier. It might even mean that insurance companies start picking up part of the tab, though I'm not holding my breath about that. The downside will be that these extremely effective drugs will only be available after you've seen a doctor, so people without any sort of insurance will be even more screwed. It's a classic case of a few dishonest people ruining it for everyone else.

Also, let me say right now, no matter your stance on any sort of drug use and the legality of said drug use, I'm not trying to make a case here for either side. I'm just stating something about the job that I do. I will say that I haven't made my mind up entirely on the legality of drugs, but that's for a different time. Maybe that will be my topic for tomorrow.

Hopefully, at the very least, I was able to keep this interesting.

- Jeff