Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Database would track sales of pseudoephedrine

Law enforcement agencies nationwide are fighting to control the diversion of over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines containing pseudoephedrine, as criminals seek to use these products in clandestine methamphetamine labs.

As a result, a bill has been introduced in the Nevada Legislature that would require cold and allergy products containing pseudoephedrine to be prescription-only. However, Nevadans have another option — an option that is working in 12 other states.

To support the country’s law enforcement agencies in their efforts to curb meth use and production, an electronic tracking system, the National Precursor Log Exchange, or NPLEx, was developed. NPLEx, which is funded by the manufacturers of pseudoephedrine, is offered at no cost to states that have critical meth lab problems and that have enacted legislation requiring mandatory, real-time, statewide pseudoephedrine sales tracking.

The system has served as a significant and helpful tool for law enforcement. If Nevada adopted NPLEx, it would provide law enforcement with a real tool to help stop “smurfing,” and curb the domestic production and abuse of methamphetamine.

NPLEx would block over-the-counter pseudoephedrine sales in Nevada that exceed legal limits and maintain a sales database accessible to law enforcement at no charge to aid in investigating and prosecution.

Using only information required by law to be collected by retailers, NPLEx provides a new tool to effectively enforce state and federal pseudoephedrine sales limits without further restricting access to these medicines by law-abiding citizens. NPLEx will be completely compatible with the requirements of all state and federal laws, including the federal Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act.

I encourage Nevada lawmakers to consider the implementation of such a program. It is an initiative that will further our progress against illegal diversion and abuse of legitimate, over-the-counter medicines.

The writer is executive director of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators.

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