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Posted on 05.24.06 by Widge @ 5:36 am
My current understanding in regards to my previous adventure buying Advil Cold & Sinus is that there is a state law on the books here in Georgia that says you can't buy pseudoephedrine products without producing ID… …from a drugstore. Now, this would make sense, as I have since bought Advil Cold & Sinus from both a Kroger and a Publix and they didn't bat an eye. So let's think about this for a second. If this is accurate–and I honestly haven't had time to check it out, but it certainly sounds plausible enough, this is government we're talking about here–then my assumption is that the law passed because our state government is so out of touch with reality they think that drugs are only available for sale from drug-stores. I honestly don't think any of my state reps have been inside a Kroger in recent memory. So forget all I said about fake IDs and whatnot, if we assume that the baddies are buying this stuff in bulk, they just need to hit grocery stores and they're golden. And I'll only shop at CVS when absolutely necessary from now on. So, again, barring this being bullshit, it's even more of a random bag search than I feared. If ever get five minutes free to play investigative reporter, I'll let you know for certain. Filed under: General BS
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Posted on 04.19.06 by Widge @ 3:08 pm
So I have to show my license and sign a log to buy Advil Cold & Sinus. Think about this for a second, people. How is this going to stop any bad guy from buying what they need to make crystal meth? All you need is a string of fake licenses with a real picture and fake information on them, and you can pretty much go from place to place buying the legal limit. And in the Atlanta area there's plenty of places. You could work your way around the perimeter in…God, how many weeks would it take, if you hit six stores a day? And don't we read all the time about how easy it is to make a fake license? It's one thing if they're going to be scrutinized by law enforcement, but these are being looked at by drugstore clerks. No offense to drugstore clerks, but I sincerely doubt they have the experience necessary to know a fake ID when they see one, at least one that's well put together. About the only scrutiny was to check the page before the one my info was on and ask me if I had purchased any Advil there before, seeing as how "There's a lot of Robinsons in the book." I bet you Smiths out there must have a helluva time. And since this is going into a paper binder, when is it checked? Are they cross-referencing this with the video cameras in these stores? If not–and I think the answer is no–then it's useless. By the time anybody could possibly see past the ruse, you've got a big ol batch of meth going and the bad guys are enjoying themselves. And me? I'm just a guy whose privacy has been violated because I'm a good guy and just live in a state with lots of pollen. I have no idea what this information is going to be used for, I was given no privacy terms or how long the information is going to be kept (answer to assume: forever), and didn't have time to make a stink about it because I had to get back to work so I could make money to pay the government to fund them screwing with my privacy even more in the long run. Our ports aren't secure, our borders aren't secure, there isn't a goddamn thing secure in this country right now except stuff with pseudoephedrine in it. I'm so glad we've got our priorities straight. It's just another random bag search. If I'm missing something tell me. Somebody please prove me wrong. Update, or what passes for one, here. Filed under: General BS
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John Robinson is a writer of prose, poetry and comics who also writes under
the pseudonym of Widgett Walls.
This is my latest book. Short stories written especially for you, or at least someone who reminded me a lot of you at the time.
