Pros And Cons Of Pseudoephedrine

For years, Indiana has been plagued with problems related to methamphetamine and pseudoephedrine. Since the year 2013, Indiana has ranked highly in methamphetamine-related categories out of the fifty states. Pseudoephedrine is a sympathomimetic amine, which means that it has effects on the sympathetic nervous system. The synthesis of pseudoephedrine into methamphetamine is dangerous, has led to the question of needing a prescription for pseudoephedrine, and has brought forth ethical and legal considerations of a prescription. Pseudoephedrine is a drug that can be used in a variety of medications like nasal decongestants, cold, sinus, and allergy medications, and can be part of antihistamines, analgesics and antibiotics (Menon, Penn). These good applications of pseudoephedrine are not commonly recognized in the capacity that the bad use of pseudoephedrine, the synthesis of pseudoephedrine to obtain methamphetamine, or meth, a dangerous drug. …show more content…
Pros for requiring a prescription for pseudoephedrine or medications that contain pseudoephedrine far outweigh the cons of requiring one. Some of the pros include having the rapid-growing problem of methamphetamine production being curbed, methamphetamine-related arrests would decrease significantly, drug trades in the methamphetamine spectrum would decrease, and there would be less methamphetamine-caused deaths (Schroeder). The cons of requiring a prescription of pseudoephedrine would be the fact that it wouldn’t end methamphetamine production for good, it would cause the black market value of pseudoephedrine to sky-rocket, and it would cause doctors to become even more flooded during allergy and flu seasons. Requiring a prescription for pseudoephedrine would also infringe upon the rights of law-abiding citizens (Schroeder). The prescription for pseudoephedrine also has its’ ethical and legal