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The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics has launched new initiatives aimed at curbing the illicit use of pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient for manufacturing methamphetamine. As of November 1st, a birth date will be required, 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 has also been working with the Department of Public Safety to implement a data-sharing program, allowing the Pseudoephedrine Tracking Program to reject sales from customers using identification cards not currently in the state system."

---Mark Woodward, OBN Spokesman

While meth labs have declined by over 90-percent in the past several years, Woodward says some areas of Oklahoma are seeing increases in so-called 'shake and bake' or 'one-pot' meth labs which use smaller quantities of pseudoephedrine.  Many of these meth cooks use
fake or altered identification cards to purchase pseudoephedrine, Woodward says.  R. Darrell Weaver, OBN Director, says his agency is continually exploring ways to further reduce domestic methamphetamine production.

"OBN  is constantly in search of ways to make our processes more effective and we are very pleased that legislation was passed that will assist us in our battle against methamphetamine manufacturers with very limited intrusion to the general public .  We must be tireless in our efforts to eliminate the illicit manufacturing of methamphetamine in our state which translates to lives being saved."

---R. Darrell Weaver, OBN Director

In 2006, Oklahoma was the first state to begin tracking pseudoephedrine sales electronically in real time.  Woodward says another new feature to the pseudoephedrine tracking system is an upgrade this fall, which allows access to the system by all of Oklahoma's law enforcement community.  Woodward says direct access will speed up the process of tracking, investigating, and prosecuting those obtaining pseudoephedrine to manufacture methamphetamine.