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South Bend Tribune Online system assisting Hoosier meth probes Thursday, September 02, 2010 PUTNAMVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Some major pharmacies in Indiana are voluntarily submitting information on cold medicine sales to a new online system to help investigators track methamphetamine production, police said. Walmart, Target and CVS send electronic data to the Indiana Methamphetamine Investigation System whenever they sell medicine containing the meth ingredient pseudoephedrine. The system, which became operational this month, should make it easier for investigators to follow people buying large amounts of the medications than checking paper logs at individual stores, said 1st Sgt. Niki Crawford, who is commander of the meth suppression section for the Indiana State Police. "We're going to be able to find the folks that are out there who are doing this that may have been able to hide under the radar screen before," Crawford said. Crawford said the system's usefulness was demonstrated when investigators needed just an hour to find a group that bought 1,300 grams of pseudoephedrine in the last year. "It would have taken months with all the information and all the people involved and making those connections, or it may never have happened," she said. Submitting pseudoephedrine sales information is voluntary. State law only requires retailers to maintain paper logs. State Rep. Nancy Michael, D-Greencastle, said she would like to see the system made mandatory for all retailers. "The consequences of not doing enough is going to be long term for society and it does end up costing us more," she said. Twelve other states, including Michigan, use the online tracking system, which was launched in Tennessee in 2004. Crawford said CVS reported about 11,000 pseudoephedrine sales from its 289 Indiana stores during its first weekly electronic report, while such sales by Walmart average about 8,000 a week and as much as 6,000 a month from Target. Members of the public can also submit tips about suspected meth activity to the online site. State police said its anti-meth unit had responded to 734 meth labs across Indiana through July and that the total number of labs found was expected to again top 1,000 for the year. The agency reported 1,058 labs statewide in 2008 and 1,343 last year. Denzil Lewis, a Terre Haute police detective with the Vigo County Drug Task Force, said the online tracking system could help, but that it was like using a "Band-Aid for something that needs stitches." "To really fix the problem, just make pseudoephedrine a prescription (only) medication," he said.

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South Bend Tribune

Online system assisting Hoosier meth probes Thursday, September 02, 2010

PUTNAMVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Some major pharmacies in Indiana are voluntarily submitting information on cold medicine sales to a new online system to help investigators track methamphetamine production, police said.

Walmart, Target and CVS send electronic data to the Indiana Methamphetamine Investigation System whenever they sell medicine containing the meth ingredient pseudoephedrine.

The system, which became operational this month, should make it easier for investigators to follow people buying large amounts of the medications than checking paper logs at individual stores, said 1st Sgt. Niki Crawford, who is commander of the meth suppression section for the Indiana State Police.

"We're going to be able to find the folks that are out there who are doing this that may have been able to hide under the radar screen before," Crawford said.

Crawford said the system's usefulness was demonstrated when investigators needed just an hour to find a group that bought 1,300 grams of pseudoephedrine in the last year.

"It would have taken months with all the information and all the people involved and making those connections, or it may never have happened," she said.

Submitting pseudoephedrine sales information is voluntary. State law only requires retailers to maintain paper logs.

State Rep. Nancy Michael, D-Greencastle, said she would like to see the system made mandatory for all retailers.

"The consequences of not doing enough is going to be long term for society and it does end up costing us more," she said.

Twelve other states, including Michigan, use the online tracking system, which was launched in Tennessee in 2004.

Crawford said CVS reported about 11,000 pseudoephedrine sales from its 289 Indiana stores during its first weekly electronic report, while such sales by Walmart average about 8,000 a week and as much as 6,000 a month from Target.

Members of the public can also submit tips about suspected meth activity to the online site.

State police said its anti-meth unit had responded to 734 meth labs across Indiana through July and that the total number of labs found was expected to again top 1,000 for the year. The agency reported 1,058 labs statewide in 2008 and 1,343 last year.

Denzil Lewis, a Terre Haute police detective with the Vigo County Drug Task Force, said the online tracking system could help, but that it was like using a "Band-Aid for something that needs stitches."

"To really fix the problem, just make pseudoephedrine a prescription (only) medication," he said.