[ibejoeb]

You don't just ask the pharmacist for it. You have to produce an acceptable form of identification that can be used to record the transaction in the universal database. It's unavailable to anyone who doesn't have one of those.

[leetbulb]

If you don't have any form of identification, getting pseudoephedrine from a pharmacy is probably not too high on your to-do list.

[ibejoeb]

I suspect you're wrong. How many people do you think would prefer not having medication to having medication?

[radicality]

He’s definitely wrong. Sometime last year I had a cold and I know pseudoephedrine helps me.

I ran out and wanted to buy some at the local cvs. Now, I’m not a US citizen but I’ve been here a few years already and am a permanent resident. I do not have a US state ID or a US driving license, and in my many years it has _never_ been a problem. Everyone was always happy with my green card as my ID - bars, domestic flights, international flights back to USA, bank account openings etc. But not for purchasing pseudoephedrine at CVS…

I literally stood there with my green card and my European passport and was begging the cvs clerk to sell it to me, but the told me it’s impossible, system doesn’t accept those IDs (and they tried, even showed me their computer screen). And so I had to leave empty handed and with a runny nose, and came back later with an American friend to buy it…

[leetbulb]

Makes sense. I stand corrected. I was under the assumption you could use a passport.