<story><title>The Uselessness of Phenylephrine</title><url>https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/uselessness-phenylephrine</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>hammock</author><text>Many Americans have difficulty obtaining ID, because they cannot afford or cannot obtain the underlying documents that are a prerequisite to obtaining government-issued photo ID card.&lt;p&gt;Underlying documents required to obtain ID cost money, a significant expense for lower-income Americans. The combined cost of document fees, travel expenses and waiting time are estimated to range from $75 to $175.&lt;p&gt;The travel required is often a major burden on people with disabilities, the elderly, or those in rural areas without access to a car or public transportation. In Texas, some people in rural areas must travel approximately 170 miles to reach the nearest ID office.</text></item><item><author>ericbarrett</author><text>Why not get a non-motorist ID card? Every US state has these; here&amp;#x27;s Washington&amp;#x27;s: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.dol.wa.gov&amp;#x2F;driverslicense&amp;#x2F;gettingidcard.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.dol.wa.gov&amp;#x2F;driverslicense&amp;#x2F;gettingidcard.html&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>techsupporter</author><text>&amp;gt; With explanation in abstract that its easier to buy meth than pseudoephedrine.&lt;p&gt;People may laugh at this, as they should since it is an absurd situation, but this isn&amp;#x27;t entirely wrong.&lt;p&gt;Neither my wife or I drive and during the pandemic she gave up her license after getting an appointment at the DOL was difficult.  Both of us carry US passport cards as our ID.&lt;p&gt;This has resulted in several situations where we&amp;#x27;ve been turned down for purchasing restricted items like alcohol or drugs containing pseudoephedrine, particularly the latter, because a passport card can&amp;#x27;t be scanned by the usual point of sale systems.  There are a couple of places in Seattle that are happy to accept a passport card but even at them it&amp;#x27;s sometimes been dependent on who is working the counter that day.</text></item><item><author>p_l</author><text>The lack of availability of proper pseudoephedrine in USA led to situation where there are papers describing how to turn &lt;i&gt;methamphetamine&lt;/i&gt; into pseudoephedrine, not the other way around.&lt;p&gt;With explanation in abstract that its easier to buy meth than pseudoephedrine.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ericbarrett</author><text>That&amp;#x27;s true and all, but the person I was replying to already has a federal passport, which suffices for all levels of state ID.</text></comment>
<story><title>The Uselessness of Phenylephrine</title><url>https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/uselessness-phenylephrine</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>hammock</author><text>Many Americans have difficulty obtaining ID, because they cannot afford or cannot obtain the underlying documents that are a prerequisite to obtaining government-issued photo ID card.&lt;p&gt;Underlying documents required to obtain ID cost money, a significant expense for lower-income Americans. The combined cost of document fees, travel expenses and waiting time are estimated to range from $75 to $175.&lt;p&gt;The travel required is often a major burden on people with disabilities, the elderly, or those in rural areas without access to a car or public transportation. In Texas, some people in rural areas must travel approximately 170 miles to reach the nearest ID office.</text></item><item><author>ericbarrett</author><text>Why not get a non-motorist ID card? Every US state has these; here&amp;#x27;s Washington&amp;#x27;s: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.dol.wa.gov&amp;#x2F;driverslicense&amp;#x2F;gettingidcard.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.dol.wa.gov&amp;#x2F;driverslicense&amp;#x2F;gettingidcard.html&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>techsupporter</author><text>&amp;gt; With explanation in abstract that its easier to buy meth than pseudoephedrine.&lt;p&gt;People may laugh at this, as they should since it is an absurd situation, but this isn&amp;#x27;t entirely wrong.&lt;p&gt;Neither my wife or I drive and during the pandemic she gave up her license after getting an appointment at the DOL was difficult.  Both of us carry US passport cards as our ID.&lt;p&gt;This has resulted in several situations where we&amp;#x27;ve been turned down for purchasing restricted items like alcohol or drugs containing pseudoephedrine, particularly the latter, because a passport card can&amp;#x27;t be scanned by the usual point of sale systems.  There are a couple of places in Seattle that are happy to accept a passport card but even at them it&amp;#x27;s sometimes been dependent on who is working the counter that day.</text></item><item><author>p_l</author><text>The lack of availability of proper pseudoephedrine in USA led to situation where there are papers describing how to turn &lt;i&gt;methamphetamine&lt;/i&gt; into pseudoephedrine, not the other way around.&lt;p&gt;With explanation in abstract that its easier to buy meth than pseudoephedrine.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>dredmorbius</author><text>Do you have any specific citations on that?&lt;p&gt;I find it a credible claim.  There was a story a few years back which made the rounds that ... turned out to be a case of fraud.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.miamiherald.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;nation-world&amp;#x2F;national&amp;#x2F;article186044173.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.miamiherald.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;nation-world&amp;#x2F;national&amp;#x2F;articl...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.inquirer.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;mark-damico-johnny-bobbitt-kate-mcclure-gofundme-guilty-20211122.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.inquirer.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;mark-damico-johnny-bobbitt-kat...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;That said, given frictions of obtaining ID and necessity of having same, I could well believe that this is an issue.</text></comment>