Australian police have intercepted 400 kg of ephedrine, valued at about $54 million US (according to News 24), disguised as ceramic statues. Authorities report that 800 of 864 statues in the shipment, which originated in Vietnam, were made of the substance that is used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

The incident illustrates the sheer stupidity of new laws, such as the one signed recently by Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski, and in many other states, that require prescriptions be written for cold medicines like Sudafed or impose other such restrictions. Prohibition doesn't work. There is too much money to be made selling the drugs. Someone is going to find a way to make and distribute methamphetamine, with or without over-the-counter availability of Sudafed. Who would have thought of statues? It's probably not possible to even think of all the different ways that drugs or their ingredients can be moved around, let alone stop them.

The only rational solution is to legalize and regulate methamphetamine and deal with the problems on an individual basis.

- David Borden, DRCNet