phenylephrine is a great drug in hospital for sepsis patients, but as a nasal decongestant, it really is useless.

the "war on drugs" push to restrict pseudoephedrine created more problems than it's worth. "the new meth" has been even worse.

https://crimeandjusticenews.asu.edu/news/chemically-differen...

There's a really good Atlantic article about it as well (google "the new meth" Atlantic) but it's behind a paywall.