IL approves pseudoephedrine tracking

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Buying a package of allergy medicine at
the corner drugstore will put you in a state police database under
a new Illinois law aimed at identifying people who make
methamphetamine.

Gov. Pat Quinn signed the measure into law Friday, saying a
pilot project in southern Illinois has helped police tracking sales
of medicines that can be used to make meth has helped police crack
down.

The goal is to watch for large purchases of ephedrine and
pseudoephedrine, which are found in some cold, allergy and sinus
medicines such as Claritin-D and certain Sudafed products.

Stores already keep the products behind the counter to guard
against theft and record who buys them. Now stores will transmit
those records electronically to state police. The information sent
to authorities will include the customer's name and address.

The tracking program started as a pilot project in 2009 in
several southern Illinois counties. Since then, police have found
and seized 155 meth labs and made 231 arrests thanks to the pilot
project, Quinn said.

"This program is a valuable tool that helps us prevent meth
from getting into our communities by stopping production," the
Democratic governor said in a statement.

Monique Bond, a state police spokeswoman, said "tracking
details" for the new statewide database are still being worked
out.

The Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association praised
the legislation. Sara Moscato Howe, head of the association, said
meth users are often paranoid so they might be scared away from
buying the ingredients if they know police are monitoring sales.

She warned that catching people who make meth is only a first
step. They also need help getting off drugs and staying off. She
said spending on state anti-drug programs has been cut 30 percent
since 2007.

"If you don't treat these people, they don't go away. They show
up in your hospitals and prisons," Howe said. "The cheapest
option is to prevent addiction before it starts."

Under the new law, stores must continue blocking sales if a
person tries to buy more than 7.5 grams of pseudoephedrine in 30
days - or more than a month's supply of 24-hour Claritin-D for a
single person.