In Mother Jones,
Jonah Engle investigates the business of "shake and bake"
methamphetamine labs and how legal drug manufacturers fighting to keep
Sudafed, Claritin-D, and other medications containing pseudoephedrine
available over the counter, or at least "behind the counter" without a
prescription, unintentionally help illegal drug manufacturers stay in
business. From Mother Jones:
If anyone wondered what would happen if heroin or
cocaine addicts suddenly discovered how to make their own supply with a
handful of cheap ingredients readily available over the counter,
methamphetamine's recent history provides an answer. Since 2007, the
number of clandestine meth sites discovered by police has increased 63
percent nationwide. In Kentucky, the number of labs has more than
tripled. The Bluegrass State regularly joins its neighbors Missouri,
Tennessee, and Indiana as the top four states for annual meth lab
discoveries.
As law enforcement agencies scramble to clean up and dispose of toxic
labs, prosecute cooks, and find foster homes for their children, they
are waging two battles: one against destitute, strung-out addicts, the
other against some of the world's wealthiest and most politically
connected drug manufacturers. In the past several years, lawmakers in 25
states have sought to make pseudoephedrine—the one irreplaceable
ingredient in a shake-and-bake lab—a prescription drug. In all but
two—Oregon and Mississippi—they have failed as the industry, which sells
an estimated $605 million worth of pseudoephedrine-based drugs a year,
has deployed all-star lobbying teams and campaign-trail tactics such as
robocalls and advertising blitzes.
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