Pseudoephedrine

Recently, the Oregon legislature became the first in the country to require a prescription to get common cold medicine.

First, some points of reference:

For the past year or so, all pseudoephedrine products are located in the pharmacy, "behind the counter," and require proof of identification to purchase these products (Sudafed, Migraine and allergy medication).

Also, Washington state does not require a prescrption for this medicine (although they also may hold the products behind the counter).

It is not required by Oregon State law for a doctor to meet with a patient to dispense prescriptions.

As with all things government, their intentions are good. Obviously, methanphetamine is a dangerous illicit drug. Furhter, we do not wants labs which turn pseudoephedrine (and other ingredients) into methanphetamine. However, requiring a prescription will only serve to harm the vast majority of the population. People will spend far more time going to their doctors because of the common cold. This will monopolize doctors valuable time and increase the cost of health care.

Further, if we want to prevent the conumption of methanphetamine, this will not work. We already know that other drugs with completely illegal ingredients are prevalent in the state, despite the fact that you cannot legally obtain any of the ingredients (such as heroin, cocaine, and marijuana).

If we want to prevent the manufacture of these drugs in the state (homemade labs), this legislation will not impact that aspect either. Drug dealers can import pseudoephedrine in from Washington, Idaho, California, or as is currently common, Mexico. Because of these restrictions, the cost (and therefore profit) of methanphetamine will rise, encouraging additional participants into the market, especially organized crime.

So we have to ask ourselves, how do we reduce consumption and production of a drug (or anything for that matter). Economically speaking, to reduce demand of any item with inelastic demand (not price sensitive), requires allowing people to choose not to consume that item on their own (such as cigarettes). Unfortunately, the only two items which work in this capacity are stigma and education. Price does not provide much impact. If we are looking to reduce supply of any item, it must become economically unattractive for the producers. This is caused by driving prices down, making it less profitable, driving high cost manufacturers out of business. This cannot be accomplished by any of the current legislation which will only drive prices higher.