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The article argues hard that making pseudoephedrine a prescription drug would magically solve all this... and never once floats the idea that making methamphet

The article argues hard that making pseudoephedrine a prescription drug would magically solve all this... and never once floats the idea that making methamphetamine itself a prescription drug would work much better. Once addicts can get cheap, safe maintenance doses to feed their habit, there's no more need for homebrew meth labs, and no more burn patients, toddlers drinking drain cleaner, kids in foster care because their parents are in jail, police teams in hazmat suits and all the massive costs this imposes on society.

jpatokal 13y ago
Also, I can't believe this is a thing: "a one-to-five-year sentence for buying pseudoephedrine with intent to make meth".
rob05c 13y ago
Better yet, legalize or prescriptionize less destructive amphetamines, so people have no reason to use meth. (yes, I just coined a neologism. You can thank me later.)
- hollerith 13y ago
  They are legal. Dextro-amphetamine and mixed amphetamine salts are widely prescribed for ADD.
aheilbut 13y ago
Methamphetamine is already an FDA-approved prescription drug, called Desoxyn.
- rob05c 13y ago
  Holy mother duck! If I were roughly the size of a barge, I still wouldn't take meth to lose weight. I think you'd be trading your mind for your body.
  - Malician 13y ago
    http://www.rxlist.com/desoxyn-drug/warnings-precautions.htm http://www.rxlist.com/desoxyn-drug/warnings-precautions.htm "Methamphetamine should be administered at the lowest effective dosage" "For treatment of children 6 years or older with a behavioral syndrome characterized by moderate to severe distractibility, short attention span, hyperactivity, emotional lability and impulsivity" I am not opposed to the treatment of ADHD, and I understand the difference in purity between prescription amphetamines and street drugs, and the difference in effect from treatment dosage vs recreational use, but.. even so, it's a little hilarious to read, given my preconceptions regarding the drug.
- jpatokal 13y ago
  True but irrelevant, since it can't be legally prescribed for treatment/maintenance of addiction.
GrinningFool 13y ago
On the one hand you deride one solution that's actually been proven effective as magical. On the other hand you propose a solution and then proceed to enumerate its magical effects. Addicts who start on a street drug aren't typically in the habit of going to the doctor for their fix.
- BgSpnnrs 13y ago
  Not sure that's true if you factor in decent quality. In fact it's demmonstrably untrue if you look at mmj users or the heroin programs in the Netherlands.
- jpatokal 13y ago
  They would as soon as it was cheaper to go to the doctor instead.
  - waps 13y ago
    The problem with drug addicts is not what happens when they have sufficient money to fuel their addiction (except in the case of a number of drugs, including -ironically- the one under discussion here : meth. Making it cheaper won't work : dosage must be continually increased to keep the effects, resulting in the need for exponentially increasing doses, and the money to buy them. And that's ignoring psychological addiction. Few people start out doing 5 doses on a work day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methamphetamine#Long-term http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methamphetamine#Long-term Some tidbits: Methamphetamine use has a high association with depression and suicide as well as serious heart disease, amphetamine psychosis, anxiety, and violent behaviors. Methamphetamine also has a very high addiction risk.[12] Unlike cocaine and amphetamine, methamphetamine is directly neurotoxic to midbrain dopamine neurons.[27] Moreover, methamphetamine use is associated with an increased risk of Parkinson's disease due to the fact that uncontrolled dopamine effluxion is neurotoxic.[11][28] Long-term dopamine upregulation occurring as a result of methamphetamine abuse can also cause neurotoxicity, which is believed to be responsible for causing persisting cognitive deficits, such as memory loss, impaired attention, and decreased executive function. Similar to the neurotoxic effects on the dopamine system, methamphetamine can also result in neurotoxicity to serotonergic neurons.[29]

jpatokal 13y ago

Also, I can't believe this is a thing: "a one-to-five-year sentence for buying pseudoephedrine with intent to make meth".

rob05c 13y ago

Better yet, legalize or prescriptionize less destructive amphetamines, so people have no reason to use meth. (yes, I just coined a neologism. You can thank me later.)

hollerith 13y ago
They are legal. Dextro-amphetamine and mixed amphetamine salts are widely prescribed for ADD.

aheilbut 13y ago

Methamphetamine is already an FDA-approved prescription drug, called Desoxyn.

rob05c 13y ago
Holy mother duck! If I were roughly the size of a barge, I still wouldn't take meth to lose weight. I think you'd be trading your mind for your body.
- Malician 13y ago
  http://www.rxlist.com/desoxyn-drug/warnings-precautions.htm http://www.rxlist.com/desoxyn-drug/warnings-precautions.htm "Methamphetamine should be administered at the lowest effective dosage" "For treatment of children 6 years or older with a behavioral syndrome characterized by moderate to severe distractibility, short attention span, hyperactivity, emotional lability and impulsivity" I am not opposed to the treatment of ADHD, and I understand the difference in purity between prescription amphetamines and street drugs, and the difference in effect from treatment dosage vs recreational use, but.. even so, it's a little hilarious to read, given my preconceptions regarding the drug.
jpatokal 13y ago
True but irrelevant, since it can't be legally prescribed for treatment/maintenance of addiction.

GrinningFool 13y ago

On the one hand you deride one solution that's actually been proven effective as magical. On the other hand you propose a solution and then proceed to enumerate its magical effects. Addicts who start on a street drug aren't typically in the habit of going to the doctor for their fix.

BgSpnnrs 13y ago
Not sure that's true if you factor in decent quality. In fact it's demmonstrably untrue if you look at mmj users or the heroin programs in the Netherlands.
jpatokal 13y ago
They would as soon as it was cheaper to go to the doctor instead.
- waps 13y ago
  The problem with drug addicts is not what happens when they have sufficient money to fuel their addiction (except in the case of a number of drugs, including -ironically- the one under discussion here : meth. Making it cheaper won't work : dosage must be continually increased to keep the effects, resulting in the need for exponentially increasing doses, and the money to buy them. And that's ignoring psychological addiction. Few people start out doing 5 doses on a work day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methamphetamine#Long-term http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methamphetamine#Long-term Some tidbits: Methamphetamine use has a high association with depression and suicide as well as serious heart disease, amphetamine psychosis, anxiety, and violent behaviors. Methamphetamine also has a very high addiction risk.[12] Unlike cocaine and amphetamine, methamphetamine is directly neurotoxic to midbrain dopamine neurons.[27] Moreover, methamphetamine use is associated with an increased risk of Parkinson's disease due to the fact that uncontrolled dopamine effluxion is neurotoxic.[11][28] Long-term dopamine upregulation occurring as a result of methamphetamine abuse can also cause neurotoxicity, which is believed to be responsible for causing persisting cognitive deficits, such as memory loss, impaired attention, and decreased executive function. Similar to the neurotoxic effects on the dopamine system, methamphetamine can also result in neurotoxicity to serotonergic neurons.[29]