321–330 of 350 posts
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Sudafed isn't an OTC medicine; it's a BTC medicine. Most medicines aren't OTC. But there are, obviously, OTC products that require ID; for instance, every alcoholic beverage.
Purchases of alcohol at the grocery store are not individually logged and tracked by personal ID. I’m certain that is not what happens when I show my birth date to a cashier.
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Purchases of alcohol at the grocery store are not individually logged and tracked by personal ID. I’m certain that is not what happens when I show my birth date to a cashier.
Most large retailers (e.g. Target, Walmart) now scan the barcode on your ID at the POS when buying spirits.
The fact that phenylepherine is ineffective is quite old and has been common knowledge for many years. What is news is that the FDA is finally acknowledging it. I've maintained my own reserve of pseudoephedrine for years. https://gizmodo.com/report-many-over-the-counter-decongestan... https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2015/10/26/the-pop... https://www.newscientist.com/article/2089555-breaking-bad-sn...
I just came here to say that I actually find phenylephrine nasal spray quite effective - but I use it for a different use case: stopping nosebleeds quickly. It's quite effective at that and came recommended by an ENT, so I do believe it's an effective vasoconstrictor when applied locally and I'm glad it's available.
EDIT: Looks like it does work for this! Nice!
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The Dutch take this to the extreme, where the actually effective anti-cough medication dextromethorphan is completely unavailable, but complete bullshit herbal mixes which claim to help are a dime a dozen on every store shelf. I can't even imagine the amount of needless suffering people with chronic cough go through in the Netherlands.
I have yet to figure out how Europeans treat minor ailments. Those green-crossed "pharmacies" (only open weekdays during business hours) have 4 or 5 OTC drugs and the rest of the store is just pseudoscience.
And honestly, that takes care of a large portion of the medication. I bought it in the US to have the ability to survive a workday: IF I'm staying home and resting and sleeping, I tend to need less of the stuff for a minor ailment.
They do sell a few things in the pharmacies here (Norway) that help, mostly with pain and to do things like dry your nose (nose spray, not as many pills) and loosen up phlem. You can get allergy medicine. And so on.
And honestly, I worked at a pharmacy for 8 or 10 years in the US and there is only a handful of drugs OTC there, too - but there are more brands and more products that have multiple drugs in the same dose. The drugs just differ at times. US stores sell the pseudoscience as well (It angers me, but it isn't just one place doing it, which is the point).
Many of the pharmacies here are open longer than business hours, but it also doesn't always matter. The doctor offices tend to close at 3pm, before the pharmacies. If you are expected to stay home from work, you can get to the pharmacy.
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I'm curious about the chemistry here (though I have very little chemistry background), so, bearing in mind that I have zero interest in producing methamphetamine, perhaps you can elaborate a little: – I can't see how Phenylacetone can have chirality – I don't understand how any enantiomer of P2P (if one exists, see above) can be selected for specifically via a chemical reaction, especially here with tartaric acid, wh…
P2P doesn't have chirality, but methamphetamine does. Any carbon atom with 4 different groups attached to it will always be chiral, in meth it's the carbon next to the nitrogen. It has: methyl group, phenol group, hydrogen, and the amino group. > – I don't understand how any enantiomer of P2P (if one exists, see above) can be selected for specifically via a chemical reaction You just react P2P and get a racemic mix o…
The fact that phenylepherine is ineffective is quite old and has been common knowledge for many years. What is news is that the FDA is finally acknowledging it. I've maintained my own reserve of pseudoephedrine for years. https://gizmodo.com/report-many-over-the-counter-decongestan... https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2015/10/26/the-pop... https://www.newscientist.com/article/2089555-breaking-bad-sn...
Indeed. I've known that phenylepherine is worthless for a long while, and just make it a point to buy a pack of the real stuff every 6 months or so, so that I always have it on hand when I need it. In my state, it's controlled - you have to get it from a pharmacist (though you can do so without a prescription) - they take your driver's license and don't allow you to purchase it too often.
Actually, coming from the UK I was surprised I had to go through this, but now I realise I was previously buying the ineffective stuff, I was also surprised by the very, very mild buzz the swiss stuff gave me.
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The Dutch take this to the extreme, where the actually effective anti-cough medication dextromethorphan is completely unavailable, but complete bullshit herbal mixes which claim to help are a dime a dozen on every store shelf. I can't even imagine the amount of needless suffering people with chronic cough go through in the Netherlands.
I have yet to figure out how Europeans treat minor ailments. Those green-crossed "pharmacies" (only open weekdays during business hours) have 4 or 5 OTC drugs and the rest of the store is just pseudoscience.
The rest of the pharmacy is for old people looking for miracle cures to being old.
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In NZ, pseudoephedrine products were banned, and now no-one smokes methamphetamine at all! Totally worth removing an effective medicine from the market. Haha, I am of course kidding, the meth trade is fuelling gang violence harder than ever, and it now really sucks if you get heavily congested sinuses. When I'm travelling via Australia I try to buy as much pseudoephedrine containing medicines as I think I can bring b…
You really can't get it at all? Wow! I'm in Australia, they just have an ID check and I think they just record how many times you've bought it over whatever time period in a shared database. It works so well (and the PE version of everything is so useless), it must be really crap not to be able to get any!
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Bonus - meth causes among other things incredible focus.
I’ve noticed the comments on hn become more meth curious over the last couple of years… I know the state of CO has been pressuring doctors not to prescribe aderall. Mine got taken away because i only took it when i needed to force myself to really work (a few times a month). Now i use pseudoephedrine.
Teachers push any kid that can’t sit still while being bored for hours to be taken to the doctor for adhd, where they are quickly prescribed amphetamine salts. What do you think they will hit the streets for if their addy script ever gets cut off, or, there’s a shortage of supply? (happened recently). Methamphetamine.
Many people use small doses of meth the same way they would take a daily dose of adderall.
You can actually be prescribed literally methamphetamine. Not amphetamine, methamphetamine. It’s rare, but it exists.