Instead of working to fix the state budget, the State Senate decided to work on this bill, SB 484 which would make prescriptions required to get pseudoephedrine (Sudafed, Claritin-D, etc.) because of a problem known as "smurfing"
What they fail to grasp is that smurfing is very difficult to do thanks to the federal laws (and current state laws) that mandate strict recordkeeping and limits on purchase.
Most stores use electronic means to instantly check whether or not you have exceeded your allotment.
Another issue, loss of sales tax revenue as prescription items are exempted from sales tax: which means a loss of over $4.35 million. (The bill itself gives an incorrect example which uses fuzzy math and says that a 90% loss of $4.35 million is a loss of $435,000...it's like saying that the glass is a quarter empty when the glass is actually a quarter full...)
This also does not address "doctor shopping," nor the fact that it will affect health care (imagine if those on MediCAL are forced to see a doctor just for allergy meds).
If the issue is to stop smurfing (shopping around at multiple stores to bypass the limits), then close the loophole that allows them to smurf: have a centralized database for better recordkeeping (this might have other potential benefits as well; it might be able to speed up the process of data-mining to caught potential abusers like the criminal who tried to buy more
Shoot, the DEA and DOJ even states that majority of the meth production is in Canada, Mexico, and some parts of South America.
(And recently, the Mexican authorities seized a ship that was carrying 19 tons of pseudoephedrine, destined for meth labs and this ship had made a stop in San Diego prior to coming to Mexico....yea....blister packs are more important that pure, industrial bulk quantities of the stuff.)
