Price’s new law curbs meth ingredient sales in Michigan
Lawmaker: NPLEx tracking system blocks illegal sales before they occur
New laws designed to combat the use, production and distribution of methamphetamines has led to lower sales of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine in Michigan, announced state Rep. Amanda Price.
According to the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx) – the real-time tracking system used by pharmacies and law enforcement to log sales of over-the-counter medications used to produce meth – the 25 states that use the tracking system have sold fewer grams of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine and have blocked fewer sales of the medications as well.
“These statistics demonstrate how new technologies can help our fight against meth and other illegal drugs, and they also highlight the importance of the newly enacted laws designed to do just that,” said Price, R-Park Township. “The NPLEx system allows law enforcement and pharmacies to block illegal sales before they even occur. By combatting this type of activity in Michigan, we are making it harder to buy meth-making ingredients, thereby curbing its production and consumption. This is positive news, but we must keep striving to eliminate this drug within our state.”
Public Act 216 of 2014, authored by Price, makes it a felony to purchase or possess ephedrine or pseudoephedrine knowing it will be used for the purposes of manufacturing meth. Related legislation, PA 276’14, created the Methamphetamine Abuse Reporting Act and allows the use of the NPLEx system in Michigan, while other laws within the package make it a felony to solicit another to purchase the medicines for meth-making purposes and amend sentencing guidelines accordingly.
“With the recent spate of meth-related incidents in our state, it’s even more critical to address the problem head-on,” Price said. “These new laws have already resulted in lower ephedrine and pseudoephedrine sales in every state that uses the NPLEx system, and the results show just how important real-time tracking can be in stopping these crimes.”
In Michigan, 7.23 percent fewer boxes of the medications were purchased between January and July 2014, with 7.16 percent fewer unique purchasers buying the meth-making products.