By Charles Sykes
The producer of my radio show, Joe Scialfa, suffers from allergies. I sympathize, because for most of my life I was hammered by hay fever that rendered me more or less useless for several weeks in early and late summer.
Unlike me, though, Joe soldiers on, maintaining an active lifestyle despite the ravages of burning eyes and a runny nose.
At least until this year.
On the advice of his doctor, Joe takes the non-prescription drug Claritin-D to help him manage his allergies. Last weekend, Joe went to the drug store to stock up on the 24-hour pills, but found instead the latest manifestation of Wisconsin’s nanny state.
You’ll recall that two years ago in a bid to look tough on drugs, Wisconsin’s legislature and governor cracked down on cold and allergy medicines, claiming that they were waging war against methamphetamine.
For the last two years, the law has required that all drugs containing pseudoephedrine – an ingredient in meth -- be dispensed only by pharmacists who are required to keep a record of your purchases. Buying too much cold medicine in a 30 day period is now criminal act. So, like others who suffer from colds, or allergies, Joe had to stand in line. And stand in line. And stand in line. Then fill out the log book and show his ID.
And even after all that of Joe was told that he could only be trusted with five (5) tablets.
In other words, he’ll have to do it all over again later this week. But, of course, it’s for his own good. Or at least that’s what the politicians insist.
The new law and the accompanying hoops are supposed keep us safe from drug dealers who cook up and peddle meth to users, but it comes down hardest on the 99.9% of the rest of us who just want to keep our noses dry. Never mind that most of the meth around here is smuggled into the country from Mexico or cooked up at labs run by gangs. But going after the gangs is a lot tougher than cracking down on people with runny noses and besides it makes politicians look good.
This includes liberal politicians who hate the idea of photo IDs for voting, but think it’s a dandy idea for buying cold pills and conservative politicians who think there’s too much government in our lives, but want to look tough on crime.
For Joe, the solution is obvious. He can call his doctor back and have him write a prescription for an allergy drug. This may, of course, also involve an office visit. So the pills that would probably have cost about $12, will now run him about $120.
Did I mention that he new law is also supported by politicians who love to complain about the high cost of health care?
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