High hopes for PSE-tracking strategy in meth war

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —Advocates of placing a prescription requirement on the sale of pseudoephedrine products, both a common decongestant and the precursor ingredient in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine, may have had some of the wind taken out of their sails last month.

The National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators last month unveiled a new initiative in the war on meth: the National Precursor Log Exchange, a multistate electronic tracking program that enforces purchase limitations of the decongestant pseudoephedrine in real-time at the point of sale. The new NPLEx system was adopted by Kentucky, Illinois and Louisiana.

“Rarely are states able to easily work together to tackle a problem that crosses state lines,” stated Charlie Cichon, director of NADDI. “We believe dozens of states will adopt NPLEx over the next several years, making it more difficult for these common medicines to be used illegally.”

Many states had passed legislation approving the implementation of such a system soon after federal law required PSE to be sold only behind a pharmacy counter, though the challenge had always been identifying enough public resources to fund and maintain such a system. The NPLEx, however, is being offered free of charge to those states interested, courtesy of pseudoephedrine manufacturers, and as such serves as an alternative to placing prescription requirements on PSE sales.

“Our member companies share law enforcement’s goal of preventing illegal sales of PSE, and [thosecompanies] are offering to fund [NPLEx] to states that adopt mandatory electronic PSE sales tracking to tackle critical meth lab problems,” stated the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, which represents OTC manufacturers. “We believe that electronic tracking is the only solution that allows for real-time, stop sale of these medicines illegally diverted to manufacture meth, while maintaining consumer access to safe and effective cold and allergy medicines.”

“If states are wanting to make this a prescription drug, we are coming in and saying, ‘Here is a tool [being offered to] law enforcement at no cost,’” Cichon said.

The implementation of a program like NPLEx also should allow law enforcement to tackle the largest source of meth: meth produced in Mexican “super-labs” and imported into the United States. “With the national restrictions on pseudoephedrine put into law in 2006, we’ve seen homegrown labs decrease, at least up until now, and the [emergence] of Mexican cartels running super-labs south of the border, and trafficking has been up to 80%—90% of the meth that’s now distributed inside the United States,” Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., testified during a hearing of the Homeland Security Subcommittee the day before NADDI’s announcement. California is one state considering the placement of a prescription-only requirement on pseudoephedrine.

The technology for NPLEx is based on a system that was developed and tested in Kentucky in 2005, and the program was expanded statewide in Kentucky in late 2007.

The system helps retailers stay in compliance with state and federal laws concerning PSE sales, and notifies law enforcement when an individual attempts to circumvent those restrictions through a practice known as “smurfing,” in which individuals jump from one pharmacy to the next, purchasing their daily legal limit of PSE. The technology is used today to deny more than 5,000 monthly purchases of cold and allergy medicines in Kentucky that otherwise would exceed the legal limits.

NADDI is a nonprofit organization that facilitates cooperation between law enforcement, healthcare professionals, state regulatory agencies and pharmaceutical manufacturers in the prevention and investigation of prescription drug diversion.