Cold and flu season is here. But getting your hands on some behind the counter medications just got a little tougher in Oklahoma.
Pseudoephdrine is a main ingredient in meth. Since 2006, Oklahomans have been required to show ID to buy cold and allergy medicines that contain it.
Starting this week, when you buy these medications, the pharmacy will also enter your birthday into a statewide database to make sure you are not using a bogus or altered drivers license or identification card in order to buy the drug and use to produce meth.
The popularity of the new "Shake and Bake" method of cooking meth has led to an explosion of meth lab busts in Tulsa. So far this year TPD has found 265. That number is expected to top 300 in 2009.
Officer Jason Willlingham says shake and bake requires smaller amounts of pseudoephedrine than traditional methods. "Basically a person can go down to their local convenience store or local grocery store and get the amount of supplies and everything they need. And about two hours later they can have a small amount of methamphetamine."
This prompted the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics to upgrade the system that monitors how much pseudoephedrine each Oklahoman is buying.
Now if a customer is a using a fake or altered ID, it will be flagged when it's run through the system and the sale will be rejected by pharmacists.
Pharmacists Stephen Strong is happy to see the state cracking down on people who buy pseudoephdrine products for the wrong reasons. "I want to help customers if it's a legitimate reason. But not to feed a habit. That's not my job."
If you have an out of state driver's license or identification card you can no longer buy these medications in Oklahoma. You will have see a doctor and get a prescription, or call your doctor at home and have a prescription it called in to a pharmacy.
Mark Woodward with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics tells 2NEWS that military service men and woman can use their military ID to purchase these medicines. Passports are also an accepted form of identification.
