South Dakota's electronic data sharing program to curb the unauthorized sale of Pseudoephedrine products has been online for three months, and Attorney General Marty J. Jackley said on Monday that it's working as planned.
The state legislature approved the use of the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEX) in March, making South Dakota the 30th state to make use of the technology when it went online in July. The system provides an electronic record of inappropriate use of cold medicine for methamphetamine production, issuing a stop-sale alert if someone attempts to buy more than two packages of Pseudoephedrine products per visit.
“The electronic real-time data sharing between retailers and pharmacists statewide is working for public health and safety,” Jackley said. “It has not further inconvenienced consumers that are properly seeking cold medications, and it is preventing the inappropriate sale of cold medicine for use in the manufacturing of meth.”
Since the system was put in place, 1,685 sales and 2,033 boxes of products containing Pseudoephedrine were blocked from being sold. A total of 129,866 grams of Pseudoephedrine were sold and 5,380 grams of Pseudoephedrine were blocked from sale.