Labs On Decline
7.12.15 – Rachel Snyder, The Duncan Banner
Stephens County is following a statewide trend in declining local production of methamphetamine.
Oklahoma and 30 other states use the National Precursor Log Exchange to track the sale of pseudoephedrine and prevent the drug from being sold in bulk amounts to convert to meth, according to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics.
The system blocked the sale of 23,697 boxes of pseudoephedrine from Jan. 1 to May 1.
Sixth District Attorney’s Office Chief Investigator Justin Scott said after the passage of legislation that prevents Oklahomans from purchasing more than 60 grams of pseudoephedrine at once in 2012, the number of meth labs across the state dropped dramatically.
“We see maybe one or two meth labs a year,” Scott said.
One lab seized in 2014 was in Stephens County and there were no meth labs found in the county in 2013, according to the state bureau of narcotics.
Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics spokesman Mark Woodward said the number of meth labs has dropped by about 50 percent each year since 2012, and the state is on track to see only 150 meth labs statewide this year.
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