by Scott Arnold
NASHVILLE, Tenn.- A month after a program was launched to fight the war on meth state lawmakers are applauding the latest results.
Lawmakers believe the database system has been working, but there are still some serious concerns about the program.
It's now been a month since the NPLEX computer system went online in nearly every pharmacy in Tennessee. It uses real-time, stop sale technology to block pseudoephedrine sales when someone is buying too much. Pseudoephedrine is the key ingredient used to make meth.
The meth problem has already cost Tennessee a billion dollars, and also created problems you can't put a price tag on. That's why lawmakers call the NPLEX system, which so far has blocked the sale of almost 5,000 illegal boxes of pseudoephedrine, a step in the right direction.
"We are very encouraged by this that only one month into the process that we have already managed to block the sale of that many boxes," said State Representative Debra Maggart from Hendersonville.
But many in law enforcement don't like the system. Other states have used NPLEX and in the past law enforcement there said it's a waste of time.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation would agree, they said the number of meth lab busts have remain unchanged when you compare numbers from January 2011 to January 2012.
TBI Officials said the real solution to the problem would be making cold medicine with pseudoephedrine prescription only. Lawmakers have already voted down that idea.
The Tennessee Pharmacist Association representatives said they had no real expectations with this system, in terms of numbers, but the 5,000 blocked sales, just in January; they are pleased so far with the results.
The Tennessee Pharmacist Association is pushing lawmakers this session to toughen the criminal penalties for making meth and for people that go from one store to another in order to gain enough pseudoephedrine to make meth.
email: sarnold@newschannel5.com
