http://www.myindianadefenselawyer.com/indiana-meth-marijuana-bills/ Indiana Criminal Defense Attorneys Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:56:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://www.myindianadefenselawyer.com/indiana-meth-marijuana-bills/comment-page-1/#comment-6053 conservative Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:18:03 +0000 http://www.myindianadefenselawyer.com/?p=205#comment-6053 In January nearly 1,200 pharmacies across the state started using the Appriss system to track pseudoephedrine. In its first full month of the program, January, almost 12,000 boxes we stopped from being sold. The police are also reporting that “smurfs”, the straw purchasers of pseudoephedrine, are being forced to adjust their purchasing methods already. That’s progress. In fact this system is used in 17 states with the same results. Hundreds of thousands of boxes are being stopped from being sold to problem purchasers each month. That’s great. What’s even better is it was done without the state forcing millions of its law abiding citizens to spend extra time and money going to the doctor to get a common cold medicine. Naturally there are some that question the success of the Appriss system within the first month of its full implementation. State police claim they are not getting data about the purchases in a useful format yet. They are working with the tracking system's technology provider to fix the bugs, said police 1st Sgt. Niki Crawford, who leads the meth suppression section. "We have not found it helpful. I haven't received any records I can use from them yet," Crawford said. Not helpful after 12,000 boxes were stopped in January? Jim Acquisto, the spokesman for Appriss Inc., said the criticism it has received so far in Indiana is unfair. "If you're buying cold medicine for somebody else and they're going to make meth with it, that's a crime, and those folks can be identified through the system," he said. "More aggressive law enforcement agencies that use the system, that's how they find the smurfers." Unsurprisingly the expected start-up glitches have caught the attention of politicians. Rep. Ron Bacon, R-Chandler filed a bill that would have allowed local ordinances to require prescriptions. Thankfully, it appears to have died this session. Common sense could have gotten Rep Bacon through this problem. It’s not the medicine that’s the problem, it’s how it’s being misused. That’s already illegal. Let’s take a quick look at how Rep Bacon voted on SB 437, the authorization for the expansion of the toll system. Although we agree with Rep Bacon on this bill, the timeline to roll this out is illuminating. When it comes to a state project like this, Rep Bacon believes the state should have until June 2021 to complete its project. That’s nine years. Since SB 437 started in July, 2011, can we assume Rep Bacon will be introducing legislation next month complaining the toll system isn’t giving a bureaucrat the right reports? That’s ridiculous. The state gave the 1,200 pharmacies until Jan 1, 2012 to adopt the Appriss system, then a politician like Rep Bacon complains 30 days later not everything is perfect. We’d suggest that Rep Bacon give this invaluable program the time it needs to be fully implemented. Clearly 30 days isn’t enough. That’s ridiculous too. In January nearly 1,200 pharmacies across the state started using the Appriss system to track pseudoephedrine. In its first full month of the program, January, almost 12,000 boxes we stopped from being sold. The police are also reporting that “smurfs”, the straw purchasers of pseudoephedrine, are being forced to adjust their purchasing methods already. That’s progress. In fact this system is used in 17 states with the same results. Hundreds of thousands of boxes are being stopped from being sold to problem purchasers each month. That’s great. What’s even better is it was done without the state forcing millions of its law abiding citizens to spend extra time and money going to the doctor to get a common cold medicine.
Naturally there are some that question the success of the Appriss system within the first month of its full implementation. State police claim they are not getting data about the purchases in a useful format yet. They are working with the tracking system’s technology provider to fix the bugs, said police 1st Sgt. Niki Crawford, who leads the meth suppression section. “We have not found it helpful. I haven’t received any records I can use from them yet,” Crawford said. Not helpful after 12,000 boxes were stopped in January? Jim Acquisto, the spokesman for Appriss Inc., said the criticism it has received so far in Indiana is unfair. “If you’re buying cold medicine for somebody else and they’re going to make meth with it, that’s a crime, and those folks can be identified through the system,” he said. “More aggressive law enforcement agencies that use the system, that’s how they find the smurfers.”
Unsurprisingly the expected start-up glitches have caught the attention of politicians. Rep. Ron Bacon, R-Chandler filed a bill that would have allowed local ordinances to require prescriptions. Thankfully, it appears to have died this session. Common sense could have gotten Rep Bacon through this problem.
It’s not the medicine that’s the problem, it’s how it’s being misused. That’s already illegal.
Let’s take a quick look at how Rep Bacon voted on SB 437, the authorization for the expansion of the toll system. Although we agree with Rep Bacon on this bill, the timeline to roll this out is illuminating. When it comes to a state project like this, Rep Bacon believes the state should have until June 2021 to complete its project. That’s nine years. Since SB 437 started in July, 2011, can we assume Rep Bacon will be introducing legislation next month complaining the toll system isn’t giving a bureaucrat the right reports? That’s ridiculous. The state gave the 1,200 pharmacies until Jan 1, 2012 to adopt the Appriss system, then a politician like Rep Bacon complains 30 days later not everything is perfect. We’d suggest that Rep Bacon give this invaluable program the time it needs to be fully implemented. Clearly 30 days isn’t enough. That’s ridiculous too.

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