State and federal law-enforcement officials expect a decline in small-scale methamphetamine production in Arkansas, resulting from Oklahoma’s decision to coordinate its pseudoephedrine registry with neighboring states.
As of Jan. 1, Oklahoma began using a centralized registry system called NPLEx - the National Precursor Log Exchange - that allows law-enforcement officials in participating states to sharepseudoephedrine purchase data. Although Oklahoma began using an in-state purchase tracking system in 2006, lack of coordination with other states led to large amounts of “border jumping,” in which individuals having already purchased the legal maximum amount of pseudoephedrine in one state, such as Arkansas, would drive into Oklahoma, purchase the legal maximum there and return home, said Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics spokesman Mark Woodward.
Pseudoephedrine is a key ingredient in the production of methamphetamine. Oklahoma’s legal maximum purchase is 3.6 grams of pseudoephedrine in a 24-hour period, 7.2 grams per month or 60 grams in a calendar year.
Although Arkansas has been participating in Leads on Labs, a registry similar to NPLEx, the state’s largest decrease in pseudoephedrine sales came after 2005’s Act 256, which put limits on the quantity of the decongestant that individuals can purchase through retail outlets and pharmacies. A second decrease has been tied to the March 2011 statute Act 5-64-1105, requiring a valid Arkansas or military identification to purchase the medication.
Michele Kulesa, an administrator with the Arkansas Crime Information Center, said purchases have diminished “drastically” since the 2005 law’s implementation.
According to data from the center, 18,445 sales of overthe-counter pseudoephedrine were blocked statewide between November 2010 and April 2011. In the wake of the residency law, 1,140 sales were blocked, reflecting an overall decrease in attempted purchases, Kulesa said.
Oklahoma does not have such a residency requirement for the purchase of pseudoephedrine.
LABS DOWN
According to data from the U.S. Justice Department, lawenforcement officials found 222 methamphetamine labs in Arkansas in 2011, the most-recent data available. By contrast, 916 such labs were reported in Oklahoma, and 2,058 were reported in Missouri.
Sgt. Brad Renfro with the 4th Judicial District Drug Task Force in Fayetteville said the number of labs investigated by his task force, which covers Washington and Madison counties, dropped from 42 in 2011 to 15 in 2012.
Washington County Prosecuting Attorney John Threet said methamphetamine production in the past several years has shifted increasingly toward “one bottle” or “shakeand-bake” methods in which pseudoephedrine is combined with other chemicals in 2-liter soda bottles, creating small doses of the drug.
“If we see people using more elaborate methods, it’s usually because they’ve been in [prison] for a while, and the one-bottle idea is new to them,” Renfro said.
Threet said that Oklahoma’s adoption of the interstate registry will add another turn in the back-and-forth saga of crossborder illicit pseudoephedrinedrug purchases that has gone on between the Midwestern states for years.
“I can remember when Oklahoma had the [pseudoephedrine] law before we did,” Threet said. “We had people from Oklahoma and Missouri coming here to buy it. We’ve seen the actual manufacture drop significantly since they first started regulation.”
Law-enforcement officials said there is no way to predict how local methamphetamine manufacturers will attempt to compensate for the reduced availability of pseudoephedrine.
“What it’ll probably do is decrease the amount being produced here, but until other places are more vigilant, they will probably still continue to bring it in,” Threet said. “But cutting down on the labs themselves has cut down on the time, expense and danger of investigations.”
William Bryant, assistant special agent in charge of theDrug Enforcement Administration’s Little Rock district office, said that decreased small-scale, in-state methamphetamine production has not historically affected the import of mass-produced methamphetamine, much of which is trafficked from Mexico.
“From an environmental aspect, it’s less damage to the environment,” Bryant said, referring to the toxic waste left behind from methamphetamine labs. “But the drug traffickers have stepped up to fill the void.”ARKANSAS TRACKING
The pseudoephedrine registry in Arkansas, Leads on Labs, is provided by a software company by the same name. Brad Cazort, an administrator with the Arkansas Crime Information Center, said the state began contracting with Leads on Labs in 2008 to provide the registry software, as well as the devices that glean electronic data from identification cards.
The contract costs Arkansas taxpayers $300,000 each year. The contract can be renewed each year for up to seven years. Cazort said the state plans to renew its contract Feb. 5. The contract will be let out for bids to other vendors in 2015.
Arkansas requires proof of state residency to purchase pseudoephedrine, ephedrine and phenylephrine, another over-the-counter decongestant sometimes used in the production of methamphetamine. An exemption is granted to individuals with a valid U.S. military identification.
Additionally, state law limits an individual’s purchase of these drugs to 3 grams every 24 hours and no more than 9 grams every 30 days.
A 10-tablet pack of Sudafed, a popular over-the-counter decongestant, contains 1.2 grams of pseudoephedrine.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 01/13/2013