Remember when you could buy a simple cold medicine without showing ID?

I used to just grab a box of Sudafed off the shelf at my local CVS in Portland whenever I had a stuffy nose, no questions asked. Then around 2006 the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act kicked in and now I have to scan my license and get put in a database just for pseudoephedrine. Has anyone else watched how these small restrictions pile up over time and wondered where we draw the line on free trade versus public safety?

3 comments

3 Comments

hugo2361mo ago

Man I feel this so hard lol. I started keeping a little stockpile of the good Sudafed at home before cold season hits so I don't have to deal with the whole license scanning routine every time. It helps a ton because I just grab it from my cabinet instead of standing at the pharmacy counter for 10 minutes feeling like I'm some criminal. I know they had to do something about the meth labs but man it sucks for regular people like us just trying to unclog our noses.

finley_bennett281mo ago

Exactly. I do the exact same thing. Every fall I grab a box or two and just stash them in my bathroom cabinet. It's not like I'm trying to buy enough to run a lab, I just don't want to deal with the whole awkward pharmacy counter dance when I'm already feeling like garbage with a sinus infection. The worst is when you get a cashier who has to call over a manager because the system isn't working and you're just standing there with a runny nose and puffy eyes. Feels like you're buying something illegal. I get why they did it but it's way overkill for people who just want to breathe through their nose.

the_cameron28d ago

I'll admit I used to think people complaining about this were overreacting, but after getting stuck in line with a fever trying to buy that stuff last winter I totally get it now. That phrase "the whole awkward pharmacy counter dance" is exactly what it is. I stood there for what felt like forever with my nose dripping into my mask while the pharmacist tried to figure out why the ID scanner wasn't working. Ended up just walking out without buying anything and suffered through the rest of the week with tissues and a hot shower. Now I'm starting to do the same thing y'all are doing, grabbing a box when I'm healthy and just keeping it in the medicine cabinet.