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The Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK—Police working to curtail methamphetamine sales and use say domestic meth producers are taking advantage of a provision that allows consumers to buy up to 300 pseudoephedrine tablets per month.

The number of meth labs that police were finding dropped sharply after the federal government put in place limits on how much pseudoephedrine—a key meth ingredient—individuals could buy. Being able to buy 300 tablets is not enough for a dealer to make a large batch.

Officials say production largely shifted to large labs in Mexico, but a new trend is emerging.

Law enforcement officials say meth cooks are instructing their customers to supply them with the pseudoephedrine.

“The cooks and buyers have figured this out and found a way to work the system,” Arkansas Crime Laboratory chief chemist Chris Harrison told Stephens Media Group.

Pseudoephedrine, which is used to treat cold symptoms, is sold from behind pharmacy counters but does not require a prescription. Laws limit individuals to buying 9 grams per month, equal to 300 30mg tablets.

Meth lab seizures in Arkansas have been rising in 2008. In January and February, officials seized 79 labs, compared to 58 during the same period a year ago, officials said.

Harrison said a meth producer can get 8.5 grams of the drug from the monthly pseudoephedrine limit. He said that is enough to sustain an addict with a small habit. Some meth cooks are having customers bring their own pseudoephedrine, said Sgt. Doug Pope of the Fayetteville-based 4th Judicial District Task Force.









Pope said the dealers are having customers boil the pills to extract the chemical needed to produce meth. The residue is taken to the dealer with the meth lab so it can be combined with lithium battery acid, farm fertilizer, brake cleaner, drain cleaner or other toxic chemicals. Pope said that, by having the customers do the boiling, that cuts down the time the dealer is at risk inside the lab.

“Everything is already broken down in the correct form,” Pope said. “They spend a couple of hours cooking the meth and then leave.”

Special Agent in Charge William J. Bryant, who heads the Drug Enforcement Administration’s operation in Arkansas, said dealers are putting more of the risk on users.

“Sometimes the cookers want the buyers to bring in the chemicals, or they’ll have a chemical runner to go buy them,” Bryant said. “They’ll give them dope, or pay them.”

Authorities in Arkansas say a new statewide database of cold-medicine purchases may keep purchases of the cold medicine from going to the wrong place.

By May 15, Arkansas pharmacies are to be hooked in to LeadsOnLabs, which keeps online records of how much ephedrine or pseudoephedrine a consumer buys. The system will require anyone buying pseudoephedrine to swipe their driver’s license into a reader linked to the LeadsOnLabs system.

The system will tell the pharmacist whether the purchase can go forward or if that customer has reached the monthly limit. LeadsOnLabs spokesman John O’Brien says customers will be able to call a toll-free number to appeal if they believe they are eligible to buy more of the medicine.

“But I don’t expect that phone number to get used very much,” O’Brien said.

More than 300 Arkansas pharmacies are already using the system, with about 700 waiting for their equipment. O’Brien said everything should be in place by the end of April.

The system allows suspicious purchases to be tracked, making it easier for law enforcement to zero in on labs, or the labs’ customers.

“Any law enforcement agency that wants to proactively use it will have great success,” he said.