DrugBuyers.Com: Over the counter codiene cough syrup?

States break down into four groups in this matter. First set: a significant number of states have repealed the law permitting OTC sale of codeine cough syrup or never had such a law, I would roughly estimate 20 states are in this category, including Alabama, California, Maryland, Nebraska, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and New York and most or all of New England (not sure about Maine). Another set is states in which it is technically legal, the law permitting sale of Schedule V codeine cough syrups (also called Class V) is on the books, but sale of Class V cough medicine has been eliminated, or virtually eliminated, by enforcement action of that state's board of pharmacy (examples: Oklahoma and Pennsylvania). A third set is states or portions of states in which it can happen but it is still very rare, either because of tough oversight by the board of pharmacy, agreement among pharmacists to limit it, or domination of the state by chain stores that have a no-sale policy (examples: Arizona, Montana, South Dakota, Indiana, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, and the urban portions of Washington State). The fourth set and the one you would presumably have interest in is those states where sale used to be wide open, i.e., most pharmacists would sell to most presentable persons requesting it most of the time and many pharmacists would repeatedly sell it as long as the formalities were complied with (pay the cash, sign the book, show ID, age appropropriate, no drinking inside the pharmacy, etc.). In this fourth class of states sale of Class Vs is now much more a hit or miss proposition. Pharmacy schools have been churning out skulls full of mush trained to reject or lean toward rejecting all such sales. A place that is good today may go bad tomorrow or it may depend on which pharmacist is on duty. Generally speaking, the older the pharmacist the better and if the regular customers refer to him as "doc" then you are probably in business. With those caveats you can get it at a number of pharmacies in this class of states. This would include Virginia, North Carolina (more western and rural than in cities), West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Mississippi (Miss. has a requirement that the medication have at least three active ingredients- Novahistine DH is OK, Robe AC is not), Kansas, South Carolina, and Georgia.
Obviously, this data is subject to change without notice - I am merely trying to quickly summarize the situation as best as I can from what I know or have heard.
If you can find a willing RPh in Florida or Nevada, state law there limits sale to 2 ounces.
Cities and chain stores are mostly a bust and independent pharmacies are going out of business at a rate of 10+ per week. The independents (not CVS, not Walgreens, not Osco, not Rite-Aid, etc., also not hospital pharmacies) that are still open are your best bet by far and a weathered orange Rexall sign is a good portent. Also, good if the signage emphasizes the word Drugs. In a number of jurisdictions sale is restricted to local residents and in many such cases you must have local photo ID. However, this is a rule that can vary depending on recent enforcement - places may require local ID one time and not a year later.

If your medical condition warranted regular use of Class Vs you will find the OTC loophole to be awfully small these days - you might as well go to a doc-in-a-box or use an OP.