In 2004, busts of methamphetamine labs were at the highest in Iowa history.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety reported 1,500 labs that year. To combat methamphetamine usage and decrease the risk of coming into contact with potentially explosive labs, Iowa passed the Iowa Pseudoephedrine Control Law in 2004, which regulates and tracks purchases of medications with the chemical. In subsequent years, the federal government and several other states passed similar laws including the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 which regulates over-the-counter sales of  pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine products.

Dale Woolery, assistant director for the Governor’s Office of Drug Control, explained that the control law moved pseudoephedrine — an active ingredient in many cold medicines — from over-the-counter availability to behind the pharmacy counter. While the law did not make pseudoephedrine a prescription drug or a controlled substance, similar actions were taken to control user consumption.

The law requires pseudoephedrine buyers to be over 18 years old and must present a valid form of ID. The buyer must also sign a logbook, which coincides with a pseudoephedrine tracking system implemented by the Governor’s Office of Drug Control. The tracking system, the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx), tracks purchases of pseudoephedrine in real time and flags both buyers and pharmacies that might be allowing for over-consumption or suspicious purchases. There are also limits set on how much of the product one can purchase; no more than 7.5 grams can be purchased within a 30-day period.

According to second-quarter data from 2017, NPLEx stopped 93,027 illegal sales of medicine containing pseudoephedrine that year. That equates to 245,097 grams in 33 states across the country.

“The point of the law was to tighten control and monitor inventory so that individuals with legitimate needs could access and use pseudoephedrine without any interference,” Woolery said. “While at first it was a change and a lot of people thought it was a hassle, I think most Iowans have gotten used to it and appreciate it has made a difference in the number of potentially flammable and explosive labs that could be near them.”

The form of methamphetamine production in Iowa shifted to a one-pot lab. This allows producers to take their products mobile by putting chemicals into disposable plastic bottles. Woolery explained that producers can use chemicals from hardware stores, including ammonia, acetone, and other corrosive materials.

So now, labs are not a danger to the community. Now, law enforcement has set its sights on the current suppliers of Iowa’s methamphetamine supply — foreign manufacturers and drug cartels.