Representative Bob Rita Applauds The Achievement Of NPLEx In Illinois
2.3.15 – Rep. Bob Rita
Blue Island, IL— Illinois State Representative Bob Rita (D-Blue Island) today released the encouraging 2014-year-end results for Illinois’s real-time, stop-sale pseudoephedrine (PSE) tracking system, known as the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx).
NPLEx allows law enforcement officers in Illinois and 29 other states around the country to track and block the illegal purchases of PSE right at the pharmacy counter, stopping the medicine from getting into the hands of meth criminals. Throughout the law enforcement process— from first notification to conviction— police officers and prosecutors are able to use NPLEx to build cases and stop meth crime at its source.
In 2014, NPLEx blocked the illegal sale of more than 70,000 boxes of PSE—stopping nearly 160,000 grams from potentially falling into the hands of bad actors in Illinois. Furthermore, the number of unique purchasers of PSE decline by 7.08 percent in 2014.
Rep. Rita requested the latest NPLEX data from the Illinois State Police. Since NPLEx’s introduction to Illinois in 2009, the state police has administered the system.
“The National Precursor Log Exchange has been a wonderful asset to law enforcement officers in Illinois,” Representative Rita said. “By forging a collaboration between retailers and law enforcement, our state has been able to see real results stopping the diversion of pseudoephedrine to meth. Going into the legislative session, my colleagues in the Legislature must recognize this success against meth crime and not enact further laws that inconvenience regular consumers. Instead, I hope they will look for ways to enhance our state’s NPLEx system and meth-offender block list. Let’s penalize criminals, not honest citizens.”