Loophole Allows Meth Manufacture Increase

The stats for 2007 were great. Only seven meth labs busted statewide that year. One of the reasons was a new law that limited how much of the chemicals needed to make meth could be purchased. By 2010, the trend had reversed and there were 32 labs busted. What changed?

When customers purchase cold medications containing the regulated substances, they are required to show identification. Pharmacies are required to log the name in a record book. The drugstore than cannot sell more than the limit of six packages a day, twelve in a month. The ingredient tracked is pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient for methamphetamine manufacture.

Sounds good so far. Except that after recording the purchase in their log, the pharmacy can’t pass that information along. Someone interested in getting high quantities can just go from drug store to drug store, maxing out their purchase limits at each.

While that sounds like a lot of trouble, that method is exactly what is being done. One dealer, now serving a 12-year prison sentence, had as many as a dozen people doing it. The math is clear – 12 times 6 times as many pharmacies as you can visit in a day. A thousand boxes a day isn’t an exaggeration.

Because of patient privacy concerns, closing this loophole will require legislation. Currently, nine states put pseudoephedrine purchases into a data base shared by pharmacies – in essence, one record book for the whole state. There are also moves to make a standard, nationwide system.

To regain the benefits that came when restrictions were first enacted, Wisconsin will have to develop and pass laws addressing this flaw in the current system. That, or see even more meth labs busted this year. This is the way it goes in the drug war game. We make a move and the crooks make a counter move. But here in Wisconsin we have the advantage of living far enough away from the international drug gangs to make smuggling more difficult. Local manufacture is still the preferable option – we have a chance to make an impact.