JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Today, Missouri State Representative Kurt Bahr (R-O’Fallon) praised the 2015 second quarter data from the state’s real-time, stop-sale pseudoephedrine (PSE) tracking system, known as the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx).
Missouri is joined by 31 other states that employ NPLEx, to ensure that PSE is not purchased in quantities over the legally allowable limit, helping prevent safe and effective allergy medicines from falling into the hands of those who illegally use them to produce methamphetamine. NPLEx gives law enforcement the ability to monitor suspicious purchase patterns and immediately flags and stops illegal transactions at the point of sale.
Through the second quarter of 2015, the NPLEx system in Missouri helped block the sale of 25,119 boxes of PSE (65,511 grams) from being purchased illegally. Since 2012, NPLEx blocks have declined each year, indicating that, in part, more meth makers are being dissuaded from attempting to illegally purchase PSE.
NPLEx, coupled with the work of law enforcement officers and retailers across the state, is one of the many reasons that there has been a consistent decline in meth labs in the state of Missouri. The Associated Press recently reported that Missouri is on pace for a 40 percent decline in meth labs seizures compared to 2014. NPLEx has allowed Missouri to electronically block the illegal sale of medicines containing PSE, while allowing law-abiding citizens to maintain their complete access to the medicines.
“NPLEx has consistently demonstrated that it is an important law enforcement tool used in the fight against meth producers,” said Representative Bahr. “The report by the Associated Press shows that Missouri is on the right track stopping meth production. Unfortunately, the report also underscores the fact that meth use is not declining as the supply is being replaced by meth imported from Mexico. While dangerous meth labs are decreasing in Missouri, we must continue to make sure that we work to treat drug abuse and lower the demand for this terrible drug.”