>There's a major difference -- one involved providing a copy of your ID to a 3rd party and the other does not.

they arent scanning as in photocopying. they are scanning the barcode to get the name/address information

the 3rd party (pharmacy, in this case) gets and keeps the information in both scenarios.

>dirt-bag third party ID management company

this isnt online age-verification stuff. the pharmacy itself is typically the one storing the information, and querying it against a government database.