Published: July 10, 2009 07:35 am      

OBN launches initiatives

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics has launched three initiatives aimed at curbing the illicit use of pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient for manufacturing methamphetamine.

OBN Spokesman Mark Woodward says newly-enacted legislation requires a birth date, in addition to full name and a state-issued identification number for purchasing pseudoephedrine at pharmacies. Woodward says the birth date requirement will help eliminate sales to individuals using fake or multiple identification cards to purchase more pseudoephedrine than state law allows.

“OBN is also working with the Department of Public Safety on a data-sharing program to identity customers using false identification cards or altered drivers licenses to obtain large quantities of pseudoephedrine at pharmacies,” OBN Spokesman Mark Woodward said.

“Oklahoma passed landmark legislation in 2004 that slashed meth labs by more than 90 percent," R. Darrell Weaver, OBN director, said. "However, meth cooks change their processes and we have to be most vigilant in reviewing our attack against these destructive forces.”

In 2006, Oklahoma was the first state to begin tracking pseudoephedrine sales electronically in real time. Woodward said OBN is in the processes of using federal grant money to modify the computer tracking system. The upgrades will allow access for all of Oklahoma’s law enforcement community to track, investigate, and prosecute those obtaining pseudoephedrine to manufacture methamphetamine.