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      ST. LOUIS (AP) - At the height of the methamphetamine epidemic,
several states turned to a new weapon to disrupt the drug trade:
electronic systems that could track sales of the cold medicine used
to make meth.


      Tracking sales by computer allowed pharmacies to check instantly
whether a buyer had already purchased the legal limit of
pseudoephedrine - a step that was supposed to make it harder to
obtain raw ingredients for meth.


      But an Associated Press analysis of federal data reveals that
the practice has not only failed to curb the meth trade, which is
growing again after a brief decline. It also created a vast and
highly lucrative market for profiteers to buy over-the-counter
pills and sell them to meth producers at a huge markup.


      In just a few years, the lure of such easy money has drawn
thousands of new people into the methamphetamine underworld.


      "It's almost like a sub-criminal culture," said Gary Boggs, an
agent at the Drug Enforcement Administration. "You'll see them
with a GPS unit set up in a van with a list of every single
pharmacy or retail outlet. They'll spend the entire week going
store to store and buy to the limit."


      Inside their vehicles, the so-called "pill brokers" punch out
blister packs into a bucket and even clip coupons, Boggs said.


      In some cases, the pill buyers are not interested in meth. They
may be homeless people recruited off the street or even college
kids seeking weekend beer money, authorities say.


      But because of booming demand created in large part by the
tracking systems, they can buy a box of pills for $7 to $8 and sell
it for $40 or $50.


      The tracking systems "invite more people into the criminal
activity because the black market price of the product becomes so
much more profitable," said Jason Grellner, a detective in
hard-hit Franklin County, Mo., about 40 miles west of St. Louis.


      "Where else can you make a 750 percent profit in 45 minutes?"
asked Grellner, former president of the Missouri Narcotics Officers
Association.


      Since tracking laws were enacted beginning in 2006, the number
of meth busts nationwide has started climbing again. Some experts
say the black market for cold pills contributed to that spike.
Other factors are at play, too, such as meth trafficking by Mexican
cartels and new methods for making small amounts of meth.


      The AP reviewed DEA data spanning nearly a decade, from 2000 to
2009, and conducted interviews with a wide array of police and
government officials.


      Meth-related activity is on the rise again nationally, up 34
percent in 2009, the year with the most recent figures. That number
includes arrests, seizures of the drug and the discovery of
abandoned meth-production sites.


      The increase was higher in the three states that have
electronically tracked sales of medication containing
pseudoephedrine since at least 2008. Meth incidents rose a combined
67 percent in those states - 34 percent in Arkansas, 65 percent in
Kentucky and 164 percent in Oklahoma.

      Supporters of tracking say the numbers have spiked because the
system makes it easier for police to find people who participate in
meth production. But others question whether the tracking has
helped make the problem worse by creating a new class of criminals
that police must pursue.


      In the past, the process of "cooking" meth was often a
one-person operation, with producers buying as many cold pills as
they needed.


      Now, with laws that strictly limit purchases and record buyers'
names, meth producers recruit friends, acquaintances, strangers and
even their own children to buy pills.


      The process, known as "smurfing," is not entirely new, but it
has come into wider practice over the last two to three years as
states have sought to limit the availability of pseudoephedrine.


      Grellner recalled one case where a woman took her 17-year-old
daughter out smurfing. When police caught up to them, the mother
forced the girl to hide the pills in her vagina. She nearly bled to
death in the county jail.


      Efforts to limit the availability of pseudoephedrine gained
momentum in 2005, when Congress passed the Combat Meth Act, which
set limits on sales of the decongestant and two other key
ingredients used in meth.


      The law mandated that pills be placed behind the counter, made
purchasers show ID and, for the first time, required pharmacies to
log each sale.


      As technology progressed, states took logging a step further.
With electronic tracking, buyers' names were entered into statewide
databases. Some states link their databases together.


      The tracking meant that, if customers had purchased their
monthly limit of pseudoephedrine, the pharmacist knew instantly,
and the sale was refused. In some states, police were notified.


      Initially, the practice yielded swift results. Meth incidents
dropped by nearly two-thirds - from 18,581 in 2004 to 6,233 in
2007.


      Oklahoma, which adopted an electronic tracking system in 2006,
was heralded as a success story after meth incidents dropped from
699 in 2004 to 93 in 2007.


      But then meth producers regrouped, largely through more
smurfing. And meth-related incidents began climbing again. By 2009,
the DEA cited 10,064 meth incidents, a 62 percent rise over the
previous two years.


      Police and federal agents never expected that electronic
tracking would actually draw more people into the criminal
enterprise surrounding meth.


      "Law enforcement was surprised," St. Louis County Sgt. Tom
Murley said. "People that normally wouldn't cross the line are
willing to do so because they think it's such a sweet deal, and
because of the economy."


      Advocates of tracking say the rise in meth incidents indicates
success, not failure.


      "One reason these numbers have gone up is because of law
enforcement's ability to track and locate the people producing
meth," said Keith Cain, sheriff in Daviess County, Ky. "If we
pull the plug on electronic tracking, we lose the ability to see
where these labs are at. I fear we would regress 10 years."


      Ron Fitzwater, CEO of the Missouri Pharmacy Association, agrees.


      "It's not a perfect system, but we think it will have a major
impact that will help law enforcement," Fitzwater said.


      Meth arrests and lab busts are not the only indicator that use
of the drug is on the rise. In September, the annual report from
the federal government's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration showed a 60 percent one-year increase in the number
of meth users.


      Meanwhile, DEA statistics show an increasing amount of meth is
arriving from Mexico. Authorities are concerned about the growing
popularity of "shake-and-bake" meth, which is made in small
amounts by simply mixing ingredients in a two-liter soda bottle.


      Mark Woodward, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics
and Dangerous Drug Control, said the shake-and-bake method
sidesteps tracking laws. Meth producers "come in and buy one pack
of cold pills and a soda, so they're really not raising any red
flags," he said.


      More than a dozen other states are adopting their own tracking
laws or considering doing so. One benefit is the cost, which
amounts to virtually nothing for cash-strapped state governments.


      The pharmaceutical industry has spent several million dollars to
fund the tracking systems. For drug makers, that is far cheaper
than one alternative - making the medication available only by
prescription.


      Oregon began requiring a prescription for pseudoephedrine
products in 2006. Mississippi became the second state to do so in
July, and Missouri's governor is asking lawmakers to follow suit in
2011.


      If more states do the same, it could be devastating for makers
of cold and sinus pills. The pseudoephedrine market is estimated at
more than $550 million annually.


      Opponents of prescription laws say they punish mostly
law-abiding consumers for the crimes of a relative few.


      But many law enforcement officials say it's hard to argue with
Oregon's success. The state had 191 meth incidents in 2005, the
year before the prescription-only law. By 2009, it had 12.


      Missouri led the nation in meth incidents in 2009 for the
seventh straight year. The state is in the early stages of
electronic tracking, but its meth problem is so bad that more than
a dozen communities have passed their own prescription laws.


      Boggs, the DEA agent, didn't take a stand on prescription laws,
but said the pill brokers are out of control: "They've created
this whole other effort for law enforcement."

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Crime, Law and Justice

An Associated Press analysis of federal data reveals that the use of electronic systems that track sales of the cold medicine used
to make meth has failed to curb the meth trade.

Meth flourishes despite tracking laws

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