OTTUMWA, Iowa -- Step by step, Iowa is making strides in reducing the state's methamphetamine problem.
In a report released by the Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy, a tracking system, the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx), which monitors who buys cold and allergy medicines and how much they buy, has stopped more than 21,000 illegal purchases in their tracks since it began in 2010.
These medicines contain pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in the manufacturing of meth.
Dale Woolery, the office's associate director, took a closer look at the system's effect on Wapello County.
From September 2010 to August 2011, there were 12,206 legal purchases of pseudoephedrine, or 24,822 grams.
But NPLEx blocked 318 purchases due to individuals going over their daily limit of 360 milligrams of pseudoephedrine or their monthly limit of 7,500 milligrams.
If a person's limit is reached, the system will flag them and pharmacies will refuse to sell them any more, which foils the technique of buying smaller amounts of pseudoephedrine at multiple pharmacies.
These 318 blocked purchases equal 866 grams of pseudoephedrine, which in turn could have potentially produced nearly 800 grams -- or 1.76 pounds -- of meth, Woolery said.
"It's not a huge amount, but it's certainly considerable considering a lot of meth manufacturing involves relatively small amounts for real-time personal use," Woolery said.
But as a rule, he said, Iowa's meth labs are much smaller compared to the superlabs found on the west coast or in Mexico.
"In Iowa, we're talking about labs making ounces at the most," he said.
One-pot or "shake and bake" methods are becoming more popular. These use small containers such as pop bottles, which are easily mobile since they can be stored in cars and backpacks. They also require even fewer ingredients, since they will only produce a small amount of meth at a time.
"Consequently, the folks using that method are making less in each individual cooking, but they're probably cooking more frequently," he said.
Ottumwa Police Lt. Tom McAndrew said that both prior to and after the passage of the 2005 Iowa Pseudoephedrine Control Law moving the substance behind the counter, the large majority of meth in the Ottumwa area comes from the west coast and Mexico.
"The big picture is that prior to 2005, we had a lot of larger-scale meth labs for our area, though they were nothing on the size of the labs out west," McAndrew said. "But since they put pseudoephedrine behind the counter, the size and number of our labs have reduced."
While the number of meth labs in the area has decreased, McAndrew said the number of arrests for manufacturing meth has remained the same.
"We do investigations into the trafficking of meth and we make controlled purchases of illegal narcotics from drug traffickers in our area," McAndrew said. "And we also use the tracking system to see who's buying more than their limit."
McAndrew said if law enforcement sees an individual buying large amounts of pseudoephedrine, they will open an investigation.
The state has taken another step to limit access to the main ingredients used to make meth: anhydrous ammonia inhibitors and locks for fertilizer tank valves. While these have helped some, meth manufacturers simply found a new route.
"Basically the people that are making meth are using different methods to make anhydrous ammonia," McAndrew said. "For the most part, they find ways to go around using anhydrous ammonia by using different chemicals."
The severe addiction to meth still has a firm grip on the state, though.
"Those who are truly addicted or just persist on making meth for others, while we think those numbers have decreased, as long as they have that addiction, that need to feed that addiction, one of their options is going to be to make their own or buy from those who smuggle it from out of state," he said.
Timeline of meth in Iowa:
--2003: A total of 387 pounds of meth was confiscated by ODCP task forces, compared to five years later, when a total of 54.5 pounds of meth was confiscated.
--2004: Meth labs hit their peak in Iowa, with 125 reported per month, compared to four years later, when 17 labs were reported per month.
--May 21, 2005: Iowa's pseudoephedrine control law is passed, requiring pharmacies to keep products with pseudoephedrine behind the counter and to log all sales. Meth lab incidents have declined 86 percent since.
--October 2006: Anhydrous ammonia inhibitors and fertilizer tank valve locks become available for widespread use.
--Sept. 1, 2010: NPLEx, the pseudoephedrine electronic tracking system, is put in place.
-- Information courtesy of the federal Department of Public Safety and Drug Enforcement Administration and the Iowa Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy.
Copyright 2011 - Ottumwa Courier, Iowa
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
