For the record, I work in methamphetamine prevention and have in the past volunteered in HIV prevention.
* Most meth doesn't come from these sources.
This is currently true. It currently comes from Mexico (at least here in Texas). But only because it costs too much to make it in the US, due in part to this measure.
* These sources are hard to use if they have a lot of other ingredients (like dayquil does)
* It's much easier to make things like methcathinone than methamphetamine, and methcathinone doesn't have a big market.
I am not a chemist, although my boss is (she did mostly petroleum and derivatives, though), so to give you an honest answer about whether these are correct, I would have to ask her. Let me point out, though, that this is how they make meth. Nobody would make it if it didn't sell.
* Methamphetamine production requires a lot of other reagents and laboratory equipment, and these are already on DEA watchlists...
You assume that the US government is competent at what it is supposed to do. You are wrong. The government is excellent at doing things it should not be doing, and totally ignoring the things it should. The DEA might have a watchlist a mile long, but in all likelihood they don't actually watch it, except to find innocent people to harass.
* Only an idiot would attempt to run a meth lab by grinding up Sudafed. It's way too expensive. It's better to just order a bunch of ephedrine from a chemical supply co.
Yes, it would be too expensive to buy Sudafed for meth. The thing is that the meth cookers don't buy it. They steal it. It is much more likely that the same deterrent effect would occur if stores would simply put it behind the counter far enough to avoid grab-and-runs.
My major beef with this type of prevention is that there is an almost-equally effective method (just putting it behind the counter) which is less restrictive. If I actually used Sudafed (it makes me sleepy during the day and keeps me up at night), I would definitely stop doing so. The government can't show a legitimate interest in having that information, since as I said, nobody buys Sudafed for making meth.
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For the record, I work in methamphetamine prevention and have in the past volunteered in HIV prevention.
* Most meth doesn't come from these sources.This is currently true. It currently comes from Mexico (at least here in Texas). But only because it costs too much to make it in the US, due in part to this measure.
* These sources are hard to use if they have a lot of other ingredients (like dayquil does)
* It's much easier to make things like methcathinone than methamphetamine, and methcathinone doesn't have a big market.
I am not a chemist, although my boss is (she did mostly petroleum and derivatives, though), so to give you an honest answer about whether these are correct, I would have to ask her. Let me point out, though, that this is how they make meth. Nobody would make it if it didn't sell.
* Methamphetamine production requires a lot of other reagents and laboratory equipment, and these are already on DEA watchlists...
You assume that the US government is competent at what it is supposed to do. You are wrong. The government is excellent at doing things it should not be doing, and totally ignoring the things it should. The DEA might have a watchlist a mile long, but in all likelihood they don't actually watch it, except to find innocent people to harass.
* Only an idiot would attempt to run a meth lab by grinding up Sudafed. It's way too expensive. It's better to just order a bunch of ephedrine from a chemical supply co.
Yes, it would be too expensive to buy Sudafed for meth. The thing is that the meth cookers don't buy it. They steal it. It is much more likely that the same deterrent effect would occur if stores would simply put it behind the counter far enough to avoid grab-and-runs.
My major beef with this type of prevention is that there is an almost-equally effective method (just putting it behind the counter) which is less restrictive. If I actually used Sudafed (it makes me sleepy during the day and keeps me up at night), I would definitely stop doing so. The government can't show a legitimate interest in having that information, since as I said, nobody buys Sudafed for making meth.