2008 Woodie Awards
Drug official pushes for tracking system
Alyssa Cashman - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 10/9/07 Section: Metro
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Although the number of reported meth labs in Iowa has decreased dramatically in the last three years, some lawmakers are pushing for a tracking system of certain over-the-counter drugs.
The main idea is to prevent illegal purchases in the first place rather than tracking them after they're already made, said Dale Woolery, an assistant director at the Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy.
"Prevention makes a whole lot more sense to me," he said. "It could help save money and resources [for law-enforcement officials]."
This year, there have been an average of 12 meth-lab busts reported per month, according to the drug-control office. This is a considerable drop from the peak three years ago of around 125 reports a month.
This decrease is, in large part, due to a May 2005 law that imposed sales restrictions on pseudoephedrine.
Pseudoephedrine is a key ingredient in the production of meth. Retailers must keep drugs such as Sudafed and Claritin D, which contain pseudoephedrine, in a locked locations behind their counters, and they must also keep logbooks. Purchasers must present picture IDs; they may buy no more than 3,600 mg in a single day.
At present, there is no way to tell if purchasers have previously met the daily maximum at other pharmacies. Woolery said many meth cookers abuse this loop hole by "smurfing" - traveling from pharmacy to pharmacy to purchase the drugs - a gap the new tracking system would aim to fill.
When someone buys medicine containing pseudoephedrine, the information would be entered directly into a real-time statewide database. If the same customer attempted to buy such medicine at another pharmacy, the pharmacist would be given a "red or green light" to sell to that individual, Woolery said.
Chris Johnson, a pharmacist at the UI Student Health Service, said she thought a tracking system would be beneficial.
"Right now, it's up to the pharmacist to keep track of these sales, and inspectors look at the logbooks and can find common names at different pharmacies," she said.
The main idea is to prevent illegal purchases in the first place rather than tracking them after they're already made, said Dale Woolery, an assistant director at the Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy.
"Prevention makes a whole lot more sense to me," he said. "It could help save money and resources [for law-enforcement officials]."
This year, there have been an average of 12 meth-lab busts reported per month, according to the drug-control office. This is a considerable drop from the peak three years ago of around 125 reports a month.
This decrease is, in large part, due to a May 2005 law that imposed sales restrictions on pseudoephedrine.
Pseudoephedrine is a key ingredient in the production of meth. Retailers must keep drugs such as Sudafed and Claritin D, which contain pseudoephedrine, in a locked locations behind their counters, and they must also keep logbooks. Purchasers must present picture IDs; they may buy no more than 3,600 mg in a single day.
At present, there is no way to tell if purchasers have previously met the daily maximum at other pharmacies. Woolery said many meth cookers abuse this loop hole by "smurfing" - traveling from pharmacy to pharmacy to purchase the drugs - a gap the new tracking system would aim to fill.
When someone buys medicine containing pseudoephedrine, the information would be entered directly into a real-time statewide database. If the same customer attempted to buy such medicine at another pharmacy, the pharmacist would be given a "red or green light" to sell to that individual, Woolery said.
Chris Johnson, a pharmacist at the UI Student Health Service, said she thought a tracking system would be beneficial.
"Right now, it's up to the pharmacist to keep track of these sales, and inspectors look at the logbooks and can find common names at different pharmacies," she said.
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