(Charleston)….The West Virginia Retailers Association has no complaints about a new drug tracking system aimed at cutting back on the production of meth. It’s called the National Precursor Log Exchange or NPLEx.
Bridget Lambert, the president of the Retailers Association, says NPLEx went into place at the first of the year and simplifies the sale of pseudoephedrine which was put behind store counters several years ago.
“The customers shouldn’t see any difference. But this system gives retailers an instant reply of whether [the customer] is in the range of their legal purchase limits governed by the state of West Virginia,” explains Lambert.
Prior to the first of the year, most stores were using a log book to keep track of pseudoephedrine sales. Now the system is computer based and access is instant.
“It identifies the person who is at their limit and at that moment the purchase is blocked,” says Lambert.
The real tracking time is giving police a head start on their investigations as well.
“It gives law enforcement a very valuable tool and almost instantaneous access to where pseudoephedrine is being purchased and by whom it’s being purchased.”
At the end of the day, Lambert says the new system benefits everyone.
“We needed a system where [customers] could have access to a common cold medicine while also addressing the other problem that does come from pseudoephedrine, the meth epidemic,” according to Lambert. “So we feel it is a very good way to address it and it was the next logical step in that process.”
West Virginia is one of 25 states currently using the NPLEx system.
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Comments
wvtomd
a little late for that. herion is king in wv now. give wv a few years to catch up with that folks.
February 17, 2013 at 1:21 pm | Report comment
steve
just another right gone for the innocent patient. pretty soon the government will be video taping your doctor visits. dont they know they will just get somone to buy these drugs for them ?--we as citizens need better protection than this................................
February 17, 2013 at 10:15 pm | Report comment
Keri Phillips
Great the only cold medication that works too
February 18, 2013 at 11:13 am | Report comment