UNDERNEWS

Undernews is the online report of the Progressive Review, edited by Sam Smith, who covered Washington during all or part of one quarter of America's presidencies and edited alternative journals since 1964. The Review, which has been on the web since 1995, is now published from Freeport, Maine. See main page for full contents

September 30, 2009

WOMAN JAILED FOR BUYING COLD MEDICINE FOR HER GRANDKIDS

Terre Haute News - When Sally Harpold bought cold medicine for her family back in March, she never dreamed that four months later she would end up in handcuffs. Now, Harpold is trying to clear her name of criminal charges, and she is speaking out in hopes that a law will change so others won't endure the same embarrassment she still is facing. . .

Harpold is a grandmother of triplets who bought one box of Zyrtec-D cold medicine for her husband at a Rockville pharmacy. Less than seven days later, she bought a box of Mucinex-D cold medicine for her adult daughter at a Clinton pharmacy, thereby purchasing 3.6 grams total of pseudoephedrine in a week's time.

Those two purchases put her in violation of Indiana law 35-48-4-14.7, which restricts the sale of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, or PSE, products to no more than 3.0 grams within any seven-day period.

When the police came knocking at the door of Harpold's Parke County residence on July 30, she was arrested on a Vermillion County warrant for a class-C misdemeanor, which carries a sentence of up to 60 days in jail and up to a $500 fine.

Boing Boing - Vermillion County Prosecutor Nina Alexander is proud to be "enforcing the law as it was written" by prosecuting Sally Harpold, a grandmother who bought two boxes of cold medication in less than a week. Alexander admits she knows Harpold had no intention of making meth with the medicine. That's beside the point. "The public has the responsibility to know what is legal and what is not, and ignorance of the law is no excuse," said Alexander. . . Vigo County Sheriff Jon Marvel got his chance to show off a rock-solid understanding of cause-and-effect, too: "I feel for her, but if she could go to one of the area hospitals and see a baby born to a meth-addicted mother." Because the best way to prevent meth-addicted babies is to arrest women who buy cold medication for their grandchildren.

3 Comments:

Anonymous m said...

I guess its illegal for more than one child to be sick at a time. Makes about as much sense.

September 30, 2009 2:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The United States is a legalistic hell hole where even good people can run afoul of some obscure bullshit law. My suggestion is that all of us attempt to move away from this place. Let only the crazies remain here.

September 30, 2009 4:11 PM  
Anonymous US is an orgasm of judgemental idiocy said...

Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.
-- Abraham Lincoln

September 30, 2009 8:32 PM  

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