MethCheck Tracks Cold-Drug Sales

By SAMIRA JAFARI The Associated Press

Published: Jul 19, 2007

LONDON, KY. - Detective Brian Lewis returns to his desk after lunch, scanning e-mails he missed.

One catches his eye: It says a suspected member of a methamphetamine ring bought a box of Sudafed at 1:34 p.m. at a CVS pharmacy.

Minutes later, Lewis is in his truck, circling the parking lot, searching for the woman.

He did not find her that day, but the scenario illustrates the way law enforcement increasingly relies on computerized tracking systems in their fight against meth, an illegal drug often brewed in makeshift labs that has become a scourge in Appalachia and the Midwest.

Tracking systems are gradually being installed in pharmacies nationwide in response to a federal law that, since March 2006, has regulated purchases of pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in making meth. Pseudoephedrine is found in many over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines, such as Sudafed.

Under federal law, customers must show a photo ID to buy pseudoephedrine. The legal limit for purchases is 9 grams a month - roughly the equivalent of two 15-dose boxes of 24-hour Claritin D, or three 10-dose boxes of Aleve Cold & Sinus, or six 24-dose boxes of Sudafed.

Tracking systems such as MethCheck, used in Kentucky, automatically collect the buyer's name, address and age with a swipe of a driver's license or state-issued ID card.

The system notifies detectives via e-mail when a customer exceeds the purchase limit.

It allows officers to spot suspicious patterns: For example, someone who might try to skirt purchase limits by going from pharmacy to pharmacy and buying a few packages at a time.

Kentucky is the first state to use MethCheck. It will be used at some 7,000 pharmacies in 43 states by next year, said Rick Jones, spokesman for Louisville-based Appriss Inc., which developed MethCheck.