Dear Editor,

Laws that affect law-abiding citizens more than the intended criminal target bother me. And they should bother you, too. Especially when they do not work.

One such example occurred recently. I suffer from extreme sinus pain on a regular basis. In an attempt to alleviate some of that pain, I went to my local Big Box store and asked for three boxes of Sudafed.

That’s where the first problem comes in. Turns out, I can only get two boxes a month. Then, since my license expired recently, apparently the information that is on it is no longer valid. I am no longer 36 years old. The photo no longer resembles me. And I can no longer purchase OTC medication.

But my girlfriend standing right beside me can purchase it for me — no problem. So I guess the law works. But wait.

According to the data on the US DEA web site, in 2004 (when this ridiculous law went into effect in Alabama) there were 475 meth lab seizures. In the following year there were only 295.

Don’t get excited yet. In 2006, there where 612 seizures and in 2007 there were 614. So, like all the other ‘preventive’ laws, this is just another failure that only hurts the honest, hard-working American – criminalizing yet another benign action.

Illegal drug manufacturers will simply steal what they can no longer purchase legally. Wake up and fight, before you no longer have the choice.

Derek Tombrello

Columbiana