ID, Please

In the past, I got carded for beer.   In the present, I get carded for children's Sudafed. 

I had heard that people got carded for Sudafed, but I was a little surprised, and unprepared, when I went to pick up something for KZ's cough.  After speaking with the pharmacist, he told me that Sudafed was what she needed, but that I needed an ID.  I had just come back from running, with only my business card, a credit card, and $20 in cash on me. 

"Will my business card and credit card work?"  I asked.

 "No, I need a state issued ID.  I have to scan the bar code," he said.

 "Ok, I'll be back," I said.

 I returned about thirty minutes later, presented my ID and watched while he scanned it and entered all types of information into the computer.  I wondered to myself if bars actually go through such a process to ID people before they enter. 

 Then I started thinking about the numbers.  Meth labs are the reason why Sudafed is locked up.  People would buy it by the case, use simple chemistry to break out the meth, then make a bundle selling it.  But, how many people die from meth each year? It must have been a lot for such a public outcry to force Sudafed behind a locked counter.  Then I thought how many die from car accidents, which may or may not be caused by a drunk driver?  How many die from guns?  

I decided to do a little research.  Mind you, my research consisted of Google, so is not scientific, but I had to know.

 According to what I could find on meth, the last year there were records on the subject was 1998.  The number was 500 people.  I did see a few other sources that said 1,000 people, but nothing was exact.  

 Car accidents were the first leading cause of accidental death in the country, followed by gun violence.  According to a Forbes article I read, 

 http://www.forbes.com/sites/robwaters/2012/07/24/gun-violence-the-public-health-issue-politicians-want-to-ignore/

"gun violence is a public health issue, and a big one. In the 10 years from 2000 through 2009, more than 298,000 people died from gunshots in the U.S., about 30,000 people a year. If you exclude natural causes of death and consider only deaths caused by injury, it is the second-leading cause of death over that time span; only car accidents (417,000) killed more people. (These numbers come from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)"      

 So I ask you who go to clubs, do you have to present your ID, have it scanned, and the bouncer enter information on the computer, before you are allowed in?  One would think this would make sense with an average of 30,000 people dying in car accidents a year?  And those of you who buy guns, I know at gun shows, they don't even do a back ground check.  How much information do you have to give to buy a gun?

 I truly feel something is beyond screwed up in our country when a person has to go through more to prevent her daughter from coughing, than a drunk driver has to do before getting into a car, or crazy person has to do before buying a gun.  Now, what is a mother to do?  I'm not certain, but I do want to make a change.  Not necessarily to stop Sudafed from being locked up, but to make it harder to drink and drive, or shoot and kill.