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Oklahoma Drug Agency: Decongestant Link Restricting Meth Production

over-the-counter aisle at a pharmacy
David Morris
/
Flickr Creative Commons

 The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics says a new registry linking the sales of pseudoephedrine with neighboring states has blocked up to 90,000 sales of the drug in its first year of operation.

The Oklahoma Legislature passed a law in 2012 that links Oklahoma's pseudoephedrine database with those in neighboring states.

Proponents of the measure say it restricts the amount of the popular cold and allergy medicine trafficked across state lines. Pseudoephedrine is an ingredient used in manufacturing methamphetamine.

The law went into effect Jan. 1, 2013, and officials say it's making a difference in the state.

Oklahoma City television station KOKH reports authorities shut down 410 meth labs in the state in 2013. That's compared with 830 meth labs shut down in 2012, before the law went into effect.

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