Politics & Government

Pa. Joins National Effort to Uncover Meth Labs

Pennsylvania has become the 29th state to sign on to a nationwide registry used to track people who buy medication that can be used to make meth.

By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent

HARRISBURG  — Pennsylvania has signed on to a nationwide registry that tracks buyers of ephedrine medication.

The registry is in an attempt to crack down on methamphetamine and meth labs.

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House Bill 602, signed by Gov. Tom Corbett in early July, enrolls Pennsylvania in NPLEx, short for National Precursor Log Exchange. The database aims to aid law enforcement by tracking people who buy medication containing ephedrine, which can be used to make methamphetamine.

Medicine with pseudoephedrine or ephedrine is often used to treat sinus congestion. Because it can also be used to cook meth, Congress passed laws in 2006 banning over-the-counter sales. Consumers in Pennsylvania, like in other states, must show photo identification to buy the medicine, stored behind the counter or stored in locked cabinets. This information is then logged into a national database.

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But NPLEx takes it further by tracking, in real time, who is buying which drug, and how much that person is buying. The notifies the retailer selling the medication if the individual bought ephedrine elsewhere, with the idea of preventing purchases surpassing the legal limit of 3.6 grams a day.

Pennsylvania, per the legislation, doesn’t have to pay to implement the exchange. It’s financed by the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, a trade group for pharmaceutical interests.

Pennsylvania is the 29th state in the nation to join the system.

The bill  passed during the budget season frenzy in late June. Bill sponsor Rep. Marguerite Quinn, R-Bucks, in a memo to lawmakers said, “NPLEx not only stops illegal sales in real time, it also provides law enforcement with an effective way of using the records already required by state and federal law to identify meth cooks.”

But NPLEx has its share of critics, partly because it doesn’t prevent a willful meth cook from finding his supplies. In St.Louis, a meth-making ringleader found ways around the system by having people buy legal amounts of pseudoephedrine and re-selling the boxes for inflated prices.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., recently called on the Drug Enforcement Agency to send help to smaller police departments struggling with a rise in meth use.

“Meth is putting a serious strain on families, communities and our police departments in Pennsylvania,” Casey said in a statement. “The DEA has incredible resources that need to be leveraged for our local police so that communities can better combat meth use and the increasing use of mobile meth labs.”

In May, a meth lab caused an explosion in Carbon County. Investigators believed a second lab was nearby.

Statistics from the Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center showed meth lab discoveries increased recently over three years. Police found 28 in 2008, 39 in 2009 and 65 in 2010.



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