Rite Aid Joins Fragmented Electronic Effort Against “Smurfing”

Some drugstore chains are tracking sales of methamphetamine precursors with their own electronic systems, but Sen. Chuck Grassley says a national approach may be needed to effectively prevent consumers from evading limits on retail purchases of the products.

Rite Aid is the latest chain to add electronic tracking of sales of nonprescription ephedrine- or pseudoephedrine-containing products. The chain will deploy its network under a settlement with the Department of Justice, which is concerned about the growing practice of "smurfing" - consumers buying the same drugs at multiple stores, often in separate chains.

Rite Aid's settlement with DoJ capped the Drug Enforcement Administration's investigation of Controlled Substances Act violations related to the chain's handling and sales of Rx products such as oxycodone.

DEA said the chain did not violate the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2006, which sets limits on retail sales of nonprescription drugs used illicitly to make meth and requires stores to keep logs of sales of those products.

However, DoJ said Jan. 12 the settlement requires Rite Aid to begin electronically tracking sales of the products in its 4,915 stores nationwide.

Gary Boggs, an executive assistant in DEA's Office of Diversion Control, said the recommendation for Rite Aid's chain-wide electronic PSE tracking system came from a DoJ official. Justice officials have "recognized that there's a rising smurfing problem within the United States," he said.

A DoJ release says the system "will alert" Rite Aid employees to halt purchases of PSE-containing products by consumers who have exceeded the sales limit. A spokeswoman said DEA expects to receive "periodic reports" from Rite Aid on the data collected by the system.

Electronic, But Separate

Major drugstore chains, including Walgreens and CVS, say they have voluntarily installed electronic tracking systems already. However, it remains unclear how effective the individual systems are in preventing smurfing.

Boggs said systems for monitoring meth precursor sales are "only as good as the data that you have and the data that you can compare it against."

He added that interoperability among tracking systems "would make them more effective," since consumers intent on exceeding limits on sales of PSE-containing products naturally will shop at multiple chains.

Grassley suggested legislation to bolster tracking of meth precursors could be forthcoming.

"I think more can be done and we need to look to states that are creating interoperable computer systems to see what is working and what can be done on the national level to help keep meth precursors out of the hands of criminals," the Iowa Republican commented Jan. 26.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores is opposed to mandated electronic logbooks. The trade group expresses concern in a February 2008 issue brief that an electronic system "essentially requires a retail clerk to become the enforcer of the law."

State governments with electronic databases in place also "do not seem to know what privacy or security requirements they must comply with" regarding personal consumer data, the brief adds.

NACDS has pointed to indictments against individuals buying bulk amounts of PSE-containing products as proof that existing laws are working (¹ (Also see "Database Funding Needed To Sell Investigators On Combat Meth Enforcement" - Pink Sheet, 25 Aug, 2008.), p. 9).

A spokeswoman for Camp Hill, Pa.-based Rite Aid said the firm is designing and implementing the electronic tracking system, but has no current timeline for completion. She said the firm considers installing the system to be a "bonus" it offered as part of the DoJ settlement, which also includes a $5 million penalty and a CSA compliance plan.

Quest To Quash Smurfing

While the Combat Meth Act requires individual stores to sell meth precursor products from behind the counter and maintain logbooks of the sales, it does not require the logbooks to be electronic.

A bill to encourage states to establish electronic tracking systems, S. 1276, which Grassley co-sponsored, was enacted as the Methamphetamine Production Prevention Act of 2008 (² 'The Tan Sheet' Sept. 22, 2008, In Brief).

However, the legislation was stripped of language that stated a preference for systems capable of real-time information capture "and transmission of logbook information to appropriate law enforcement and regulatory agencies."

Some states have initiated aggressive efforts against smurfing. Arkansas announced implementation of a real-time statewide electronic logbook in June 2008. Iowa, Oklahoma and Missouri have their own similar programs in place ("The Tan Sheet" June 9, 2008, In Brief).

Another statewide program called Meth-Free Tennessee has "been a huge success" in identifying smurfers and assisting in their federal prosecution, said Kristin Helm, a public information officer with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Rather than mandate electronic monitoring of meth precursors, Tennessee provides pharmacies and law enforcement free access to "an integrated central system" the state developed using federal grant funds, she said in an e-mail.

Helm added that electronic systems are preferable to the paper logbook required by the Combat Meth Act. She called manual logging of consumer data "intrusive, difficult, inefficient and ineffective."

CVS employs the MethCheck central database system created and monitored by IT service provider Appriss.

An Appriss spokesman said more than 7,400 pharmacies in 47 states are tied into the MethCheck system, which flags potential smurfers. Law enforcement agencies must contract with the company in order to access the data.

Chris Parsons, founder and CEO of pharmacy IT firm Pharmitas, said he expects electronic tracking of drug purchases to grow as more stores adopt systems such as the Bellevue, Wash.-based firm's ComplyScan .

Parsons said he also foresees future mandates for tracking purchases of cough suppressants containing dextromethorphan and drugs that are switched to nonprescription status with a post-marketing surveillance requirement.

- Dan Schiff ([email protected])