WVSU criminal justice students had the opportunity to learn first-hand about how law enforcement and retailers are combating the cooking crystal meth Monday evening.
A guest lecture from the developers of the National Precursor Log Exchange Program, also known as NPLEx, gave a guest lecture at the university’s Wallace Hall.
NPLex has developed at database that aims to limit the sale of of the cold medicine pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in the drug, to those buying the medicine for the purpose of cooking meth.
“This is a new technology, but it’s a very needed one,” said assistant professor Dr. Kerri Steele. “It’s one that they’re going to be using when they graduate. We’re hoping to introduce them to the technology that they’ll be using, and we’re fortunate enough to have the developers here to talk to them and answer questions.”
One of the guest speakers Client Relationship Manager for NPLEx Krista McCormick, described how the database got started.
“Our company in 2006, once the federal law passed the regulations that put limits on how much the consumer can purchase, created the paper log system for the pharmacies where as a consumer you had to show your ID, the pharmacist had to write down all your information in order to sell the product.”
Soon, McCormick said, the system developed into a national online database.
“We actually had the idea to create one national database,” she said. “So that whether you’re a pharmacy in West Virginia, Kentucky, California, Florida; wherever, all that information is going into one central database bouncing off of each other in real time so we can report to the pharmacy based on previous purchase patterns.”
McCormick said Pseudoephedrine is the key to cooking most meth, and can easily be halted.
“It’s the main ingredient. Without it methamphetamine cannot be made. It’s the one thing we can track to help law enforcement proactively attack the issue in their area.”
NPLEx now exists in 32 states tracking about 45,000 pharmacies and their sales nationwide.