By Scott Tibbs, December 9, 2015
Why should I bother voting for Republicans when they pull nonsense like mandating prescriptions for pseudoephedrine? Why not just vote for Democrats, who do not pretend to be the party of small government?
We need a new state program if this legislation passes. I want the state to pay for my doctor's visit every time I need a decongestant. Neither I nor my insurance company should pay for it - state government should pay for it. If state government wants this mandate, then state government should pay for it. Of course, a better option would be to not pass this completely unnecessary and wasteful legislation.
As I have pointed out before, 80% of the meth in Indiana comes from Mexico, according to the state police. Even if we eliminated every meth lab in the state, we will not get rid of most of it and we will further empower hyperviolent Mexican drug cartels. So we will restrict the liberty of our citizens and force us to spend a lot more money than we need to spend, in exchange for making the drug trade worse.
So what is my solution?
I reject the idea that I have to provide a better solution when attacking a policy that I oppose. A huge problem in our politics is the notion that we need to "do something" about a problem. Sometimes doing nothing is better than doing something, if that something is counterproductive or destructive. And we are already doing something because making and using meth is already illegal and the law is being enforced.
If we make meth available only by prescription in Indiana, we will see over-the-counter drugs with pseudoephedrine smuggled in from Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Kentucky - and not just for meth makers but also for law-abiding citizens who just want relief from congestion. We have already seen meth makers breaking into pharmacies with the current restrictions, and that will increase if it goes prescription-only.
We need to rethink the entire concept of the War on Drugs, which has given government the excuse to become bigger and more powerful while taking away our liberty. We need to stop treating drug abuse as a criminal matter and start treating it as a public health problem. Locking up drug addicts does not work.
