WASHINGTON — The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) has applauded Georgia for becoming the 33rd state to adopt real-time, stop-sale technology for illegal purchases of medication containing pseudoephedrine (PSE).

Scott Melville

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal last week signed legislation, approved by the state legislature and sponsored by State Rep. David Clark Clark and State Sen. Renee Unterman (R.), for the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx). NPLEx blocks illicit sales of PSE products at the pharmacy counter and provides law enforcement with valuable, real-time data on potential criminal activity.

PSE is a key ingredient sometimes used in the production of methamphetamine, a major drug abuse problem in communities nationwide.

CHPA said Georgia is the last state in the Southeast to adopt NPLEx, as all of its neighboring states – including South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina — have adopted the system in previous years. NPLEx helps to prevent purchases by potential meth criminals while protecting law-abiding consumers’ access to safe and effective medicines containing PSE, such as Advil Cold & Sinus, Allegra-D, Claritin-D, Mucinex D and Sudafed, the association noted.

“CHPA commends the leadership of the Georgia Legislature and Gov. Nathan Deal in the adoption of NPLEx and their participation in this successful national effort in the fight against meth,” stated Scott Melville, president and chief executive officer of CHPA. “We also applaud legislators, law enforcement and pharmacists across all thirty-three states working together to stop the illegal diversion of PSE, while ensuring that law-abiding citizens continue to have access to these safe and effective nonprescription cold and allergy medicines.”

According to CHPA, a recent report from the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (NADDI) showed that between Jan. 1 and March 31, NPLEx blocked the illegal sale of 395,394 boxes of medicine containing PSE, keeping 1,018,259 grams of PSE out of the hands of criminals.