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Report shows pseudoephedrine sales monitoring program working

Release by West Virginia Retailers on 2016 NPLEx Data:

CHARLESTON, W.VA., February 15, 2017 – Today, the West Virginia Retailers Association released the most recent data from the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx), West Virginia’s real-time, stop-sale pseudoephedrine monitoring system, covering the period Jan. 1, 2016 to Dec. 31, 2016.

West Virginia is among the 33 states across the nation that have adopted NPLEx to block, at the point of sale, the unlawful purchase of over-the-counter medicines containing pseudoephedrine (PSE) for purchasers who have exceeded the daily and monthly purchase limits. Along with retailers, law enforcement use NPLEx to fight the production of meth in West Virginia by monitoring suspicious purchase patterns and using the system to target meth makers to be questioned.

  • Throughout 2016, NPLEx blocked the sale of 17,096 boxes of PSE in the Mountain State, totaling 46,065 grams, from being purchased beyond the legal limit. 

 

  • Compared to 2015, this was a 9 percent reduction in grams sold, combined with a nearly 7 percent reduction in unique purchasers, potentially demonstrating that those meth makers and their associates are being deterred from buying PSE due to the effectiveness of NPLEx. 

“Retailers have relied on NPLEx since 2013, and last year it continued to show that it is a necessary and important resource for our state’s battle against meth production,” said Bridget Lambert, President of the West Virginia Retailers Association. “As retailers, we are on the front lines of the fight against meth.  We appreciate NPLEx’s role in ensuring that those who are attempting to exceed their purchase limits are stopped before they can get their hands on cold and allergy medicine containing pseudoephedrine. The West Virginia Retailers Association and our members are committed to providing PSE products to those who need them most, without unnecessary restrictions, and NPLEx allows us to do that.”

 

About WVRA — The West Virginia Retailers Association is the voice of the retail industry in West Virginia. The association was founded in 1942 by merchants concerned with advancing and safeguarding the well-being of the retail industry. The Association is recognized by merchants, legislators, state officials, and other trade groups as the spokesman for the retailing industry.

 

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