5 ms·

You can still get pseudoephedrine containing Sudafed in UK sometimes, I've had difficulties finding it, but they package it almost identically to the phenylephr

You can still get pseudoephedrine containing Sudafed in UK sometimes, I've had difficulties finding it, but they package it almost identically to the phenylephrine containing placebo. To me this has always seemed like obvious fraud. We don't have class actions in the UK, but perhaps in USA there's a chance of punishing this sort of behaviour going forward? Basically they took the active ingredient out, added a similarly sounding chemical, continued to sell the new known-ineffective chemical in the virtually the same packet, under the same trade dress and branding... Pseudo was really effective for me. When I first bought Sudafed after they took the active ingredient out (of the easy to find product) I thought I'd misremembered, took a couple of illnesses before I twigged, then some very careful analysis of packaging to make sure to get the actual medicine.

jfengel 2y ago
Interesting. I was just in the UK (Scotland), and picked up a cold on the plane. I was unable to locate any pseudoephedrine. My search was far from comprehensive, so it might merely have required looking harder. But I gave up early, on the assumption that the UK was similarly restrictive to the US.
- pbhjpbhj 2y ago
  Maybe it has, but last time we bought it was within the last year - branded Sinutab (actually clearly marked, unlike Sudafed), from Tesco Pharmacy I think. It's always with paracetamol; which I assumed made it difficult/useless for meth makers.
EasyMark 2y ago
In the US everywhere has it, but it’s behind the counter and you have to show ID so they can track how much buy. It’s ridiculous, but it’s not hard to get, and has never stopped an illegal drug chemist from making crystal meth, but regular folks pay the price in inconvenience
- pbhjpbhj 2y ago
  Perhaps if you pay cash in UK they have to get ID, if you don't (or you use a discount card) then they're already tracking you so extra checks probably aren't needed.

jfengel 2y ago

Interesting. I was just in the UK (Scotland), and picked up a cold on the plane. I was unable to locate any pseudoephedrine. My search was far from comprehensive, so it might merely have required looking harder. But I gave up early, on the assumption that the UK was similarly restrictive to the US.

pbhjpbhj 2y ago
Maybe it has, but last time we bought it was within the last year - branded Sinutab (actually clearly marked, unlike Sudafed), from Tesco Pharmacy I think. It's always with paracetamol; which I assumed made it difficult/useless for meth makers.

EasyMark 2y ago

In the US everywhere has it, but it’s behind the counter and you have to show ID so they can track how much buy. It’s ridiculous, but it’s not hard to get, and has never stopped an illegal drug chemist from making crystal meth, but regular folks pay the price in inconvenience

pbhjpbhj 2y ago
Perhaps if you pay cash in UK they have to get ID, if you don't (or you use a discount card) then they're already tracking you so extra checks probably aren't needed.