It makes sense to restrict access to pure, bulk pseudoephedrine. Like in the range of hundreds of kilos. But nobody making meth out of cold pills is going to be able to compete with cheap, surprisingly pure cartel meth. It's just not possible. And there's no reason for a person to take all the risks associated with running a clandestine lab to make it for themselves when they can just buy it.
So like, why bother restricting access to effective cold meds?
Moral crusade theater.
The belief that any sort of compromise or adaptation, other than toward more violence, is betrayal.
The belief that the believer is good and pure, and their tribe and its allies are the same, and that anyone else is evil and must be converted, destroyed, or both. Certainly not to be engaged and bargained with in good faith.
@Expecting_Words
It's not about the cost, but the thrill of doing something illegal and getting away with it. In addition, in rural areas pure, unadulterated meth is difficult to obtain unless you go to the city. There are areas in this country where the nearest city is hours away. We used to live 5 miles outside a small town in Missouri just over an hour west of St Louis. The road behind our house had several meth labs that blew up on a regular basis. There wasn't anything else to do there.