Oklahoma Pseudoephedrine Tracking: A History

1. Oklahoma Pseudoephedrine Tracking: A History Presented By: Travis Kirkpatrick Project Manager Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics

2. Diagnosing the Problem: From 1994-2003, Oklahoma witnessed a 12,000% increase in Meth labs (from 10 seizures in 1994 to 1233 in 2003)

4. Finding a solution Summer 2003: OBN Director Lonnie Wright and OBN General Counsel Scott Roland ask Oklahoma Representative John Nance to hold an Interim Legislative Study to create a comprehensive law to address the marked increase in Meth labs. September 11th & 12th, 2003: A two-day Interim Study is held at the Oklahoma State capitol. Law Enforcement, Prosecutors, and Mental Health experts carve out a preliminary draft of HB 2176. February and March 2004: HB 2176 passes out of the OK House and Senate with unanimous approval. April 6th, 2004: Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry signs HB 2176 into law.

5. Oklahoma House Bill 2176: Requirements Pseudoephedrine (in tablet form) must be sold behind the counter in a licensed pharmacy. Customers looking to purchase pseudoephedrine must provide a valid photo ID which includes: state driver�s license, state ID, military ID, passport, and foreign issued ID, and sign an in-store logbook prior to sale. Customers can purchase no more than 9 grams of pseudoephedrine in any 30 day period without a prescription. (Syrups and liquid-filled gel tablets are exempt from this law). The federal Combat Meth Act added an additional daily limit of 3.6 grams that a customer may not exceed.

6. Results of HB 2176 End of April 2004: Number of Meth labs found in Oklahoma drops nearly 40% (24 days after law is enacted). End of May 2004: Number of Meth labs found in Oklahoma drops nearly 71% September 2005 �October 2006 Number of Meth labs found in Oklahoma drops by over 90% from 120 labs the month prior to HB 2176 to 14 labs (most of those being non-operational glassware/dumpsites).

7. As you can see, the number of Meth labs reported to EPIC fell drastically after the implementation of HB 2176.

8. Out of the 66 meth labs discovered in 2007, 47 were located either on or near the Oklahoma state border.

9. Issues with the Paper Log System Complaints of law enforcement investigators concerning the amount of manpower needed to search multiple pharmacies� logbooks for one subject. Complaints of Pharmacies concerning the time and resources needed to keep the log up to date. Refusal by major pharmacy chain to comply with law; (this resulted in a large-scale investigation involving multiple agencies and many man hours, the outcome of which being an out of court settlement and ultimately, compliance with the law).

10. OBN Administrative Rule 475:55-1-5: Electronic Reporting

11. �  ��Pharmacists or other authorized persons who sell Schedule V pseudoephedrine products shall exercise reasonable care in assuring that the purchaser has not exceeded the nine (9) gram limit for a thirty (30) day period. The pharmacist or other authorized person must utilize the real-time electronic pseudoephedrine tracking system established and maintained by the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control.�

12. (1)����All pseudoephedrine transactions regulated by Oklahoma law must be approved through submitting the request to the electronic log; (2)����Pseudoephedrine products will only be sold to customers who present a valid form of identification. These include: state driver's license, state ID card, passport, military ID, or foreign issue ID card. (3)����The customer�s information must be the same as that on the presented identification, and shall include the following information (fields that are required for submitting information as required by Oklahoma law): The following provisions are necessary for compliance with this system:

13. (A)����Pharmacy identification; (B)����Identification number (including driver�s license, state ID, military ID, passport, and foreign issued ID); (C)����Last name; (D)����First name; (E)����Purchase quantity (in grams); (F)����Initials of the pharmacist or other authorized person conducting the transaction; (G)���Product name; (H)���Form of pseudoephedrine (if it is liquid or gel-caps); (I)����Customer's current street address; (J)���Customer's current city, state, and zip code

14. System Availability (4)����If the electronic log is unavailable (time-out of twenty seconds or more) because of a failure on the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control network, the pharmacist or other authorized person may continue with the transactions until the system is available; if the electronic log is unavailable because of a failure attributable to systems other than the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control, all transactions must be recorded manually and entered into the electronic logbook by the registrant as soon as is practicable after the problem is resolved.

18. Creation/Costs of the PSE Tracking System January 2006: OBN contracts with software development company to create an electronic log with a web interface that allows pharmacies to submit and check PSE purchases in real time. October 1st 2006: the PSE Tracking System goes live. COSTS: Creation of System(including purchase of software, developer�s fees, personnel salaries, and miscellaneous costs) = $500,000 Yearly maintenance fees= <$20,000

19. Final Thoughts on PSE Tracking System Through the development and implementation of the tracking system, OBN has established close working relationships with various other law enforcement agencies as well as other civilian business groups and consumer organizations. OBN is working on combining the PSE system with the Prescription Monitoring Program, thereby eliminating the duplication of time and resources needed to run each individual project. In the 2 years since the establishment of the tracking system, THERE HAS NOT BEEN A SINGLE REPORTED INCIDENT OF ASSULT OR BATTERY ON A PHARMACIST OR THEIR STAFF DUE TO OKLAHOMA�S STOP-SALE SYSTEM.