(no subject)

[vicarz]

Well that was stupid. I am still sick - sicker than I was, despite the tons of napping and rest. Not sure what else I could do. I stopped by the drugstore to get some more decongestant...and it wasn't on the shelf. There was a sign directing you to the pharmacy counter, where I learned that pseuphedrine is now a controlled substance. You can get it, in limited quantities, and they check your DL and ask you to sign the federal control blah blah list to get a fucking decongestant.

Thank you america, for making me loathe your stupidity more. Not every problem needs another stupid law. I'm sure people supported this regulation when it was called the "Accountability for controlled substances through interstate commerce" act, but might have wondered about the "drug-free USians give your SS# to get cold remedies from the drugstore" act. Punish all of us for what people choose to do. So in massive quantities decongestant can be turned into meth. Why is that my problem getting 30 mg tabs in the store?

This is also one isle over from the new loud razor blade dispensers, as they are stolen so much they now have to either put them behind the counter or use loud individual dispensers.

This is the same mentality that has a stoplight put up every time a stupid kid dashes out in front of a car. Every death has to have "meaning." Idiots. Every stupid law has a sad story, but no one ever gets rid of the stupid laws. I'm sure there is a law in this state against fucking your grandmother. Some freak did it, they made a law against it, and it remains on the book despite the fact that it's not necessary. We still have these insane drunk driving laws, that everyone supports, because they don't realize that they essentially mean that everyone that has a beer with dinner is "legally drunk." Rant, I say.

America. Land of the Brave.
Making laws against their shadows.

I have my exam tonight - my comprehension of the subject is far higher, and I'm now used to using the code book - but I'm sick. Oh this mightily blows. And I hate america.

Comments

[anarcha.livejournal.com]

Sympathies -- I'm sick as well, though it seems to be fading.

And don't look now, but your Mason law edumacation is rubbing off on you. You're starting to sound like me when it comes to meaningless laws.

Welcome to libertarianism.

[vicar.livejournal.com]

I have been influenced by the economic theories, I'm admitting. On the same subject, I just got my "Social Security benefits" mailing. This is hysterical - once the very existance of the program was threatened, they started using OUR TAX DOLLARS to send out these "informative" flyers to let us know what our benefits might be...if we continue to reward people who fail to plan for retirement. It's blatant PR...but no, it's just informative, isn't it?

Libertarians are ok but they fail to control for things like the environment and the simple fact that without some structure people royally screw each other. I dunno...my views on regulation are cloudy right now.

[transentient.livejournal.com]

So that's actually a law forcing drug stores to get your DL# and shit for decongestant??

[vicar.livejournal.com]

Point...I don't know that it's a law. It might just be CVS being stupid. Maybe a state law. Maybe a fed law - no idea.

[inlaterdays.livejournal.com]

It's Federal law. We can all thank the home meth labs for that.

[vicar.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't be labs at all if we just let people get high w/o calling it a crime. I'm amazed by the resources we waste on victimless crimes. I don't do the stuff - or eat bacon-cheeseburgers, but I do feel it's my diety-given right to do so.

[inlaterdays.livejournal.com]

Good point.

We can all thank the panic over home meth labs for that.

Better? ;)

[inlaterdays.livejournal.com]

And I hope you feel better soon!

Being sick sucks.

[wikkidgothbabe.livejournal.com]

That's totally stupid, but then again we have a chimp running the country presently.

A little Thai food (think red curry) will clear you up faster than any decongestants...

Hope you feel better soon!

[bentrazor.livejournal.com]

seconded.

I think DUI laws are lame, or at least, poorly executed. I'm 5'11 and weigh over 200 lbs with an insane tolerance for everything and a wicked metabolism. It takes a bit more than average to render me 'impaired'.

[vicar.livejournal.com]

(at the same time I yield to the BAC because unlike some yahoo cop's judgment being the measure for whether I should be arrested or not, BAC is at least measurable and objective. Still, I think the limits on BAC may be too low, but I would have to drink, drive, measure my BAC, and be on mythbusters to really feel I knew what numbers were appropriate)

There was actually a study....

[pennan.livejournal.com]

That "up to the cop's discretion" is a huge part of what galls me, that I can be subjected to the full extent of the law because some upstart doesn't like the tone I use with him.

Did you ever read about this:

In 1991, Dr. Spurgeon Cole of Clemson University conducted a study on the accuracy of FSTs. His staff videotaped individuals performing six common field sobriety tests, then showed the tapes to 14 police officers and asked them to decide whether the suspects had “had too much to drink and drive”. Unknown to the officers, the blood-alcohol concentration of each of the 21 DUI subjects was .00%, stone sober. The results: the officers gave their opinion that 46% of these innocent people were too drunk to drive! In other words, the field sobriety tests were hardly more accurate at detecting intoxication than flipping a coin. Cole and Nowaczyk, “Field Sobriety Tests: Are they Designed for Failure?”, 79 Perceptual and Motor Skills Journal 99 (1994).

Re: There was actually a study....

[vicar.livejournal.com]

No question - in fact I only recently heard virtually the first time someone I knew "passed" a FST. I thought they were just to get the cops off on the exertion of power. My fav was for Michelle and Elise - in full club gear in the dead of winter. They made them dance around on the highway, in club gear, and wouldn't let them put their coats on. Stone sober.

And of course I had my car searched by a cop that "smelled drugs." I let him, but only because I was impressed that if I didn't, it would be worse for me. I hadn't done any form of drugs for over ten years at that time. He smelled my stickers on the car perhaps, which were angry things sure, but his line about smelling drugs was crap.

So yeah, not surprised. It's just no one cares. Everyone thinks the laws just net criminals, the same way everyone thinks they're going the speed limit. If people were more active and aware, well...drugs would be legal for one, the speed limit would be reasonable, and we might trust the cops more. They're not all bad of course, but the dicks really stick out.

[mreraser.livejournal.com]

I thank the makers of Crystal Meth :-)

[lightbringer23.livejournal.com]

Had a similar experience yesterday trying to get claritin with pseudoephedrine at a safeway. ID, signature, retinal scan, blood sample, ok not the last two but had to purchase it right then and there.

Wouldn't piss me off if I couldn't get bottles of unadulterated pseudoephedirine and ephedrine from gas stations no questions asked.