Law-abiding citizens can't just go to the drug store isle and get a package of decongestant/allergy relief. They have to get it from the pharmacist and have their names entered into a database.
The idea is to make it harder for criminals to get some of the materials to make methamphetamine.
Problem is, they're finding ways around it.
Police in Arkansas who are working to curtail the illegal use and sales of methamphetamine say domestic meth producers are taking advantage of provisions in the law that allow consumers to buy up to 300 pseudoephedrine tablets per month.
The number of meth labs they were finding in Arkansas dropped sharply after the federal government put in place limits on how much pseudoephedrine -- a key meth ingredient -- individuals could buy. A dealer would not be able to make a large batch with only 300 tablets, authorities believed.
Officials say production largely shifted to large labs in Mexico, but a new trend is emerging: Law enforcement officials say meth cooks are instructing their customers to supply them with the pseudoephedrine.
Arkansas Crime Laboratory chief chemist Chris Harrison said the cooks and buyers have found a way to work the system. A meth producer can get 8.5 grams of meth from the monthly pseudoephedrine limit, Harrison said, -- enough to sustain an addict with a small habit.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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