Request Buffer EducationsSeek the right college, Search for colleges and universities here

Need Sudafed?

You can’t get it at Buntings & Northside Drug Center.

The pharmacy, on Euclid Avenue in Bristol, Va., stopped carrying pseudoephedrine about a year ago, said a pharmacist there. That’s when extra regulations were placed on pharmacies in the state to keep records of the sale of the common cold medicine, which is also a key ingredient in making methamphetamine.

In Virginia and Tennessee, would-be purchasers must take his or her driver’s license to the counter and sign for the drug.

Law enforcement agencies can tap into the pharmacy records and see who has bought pseudoephedrine, and when and where it was purchased.

Some pharmacies, like Walgreens, already had a system in place before it was legally mandated in some states, said Robert Elfinger, a Walgreens spokesperson.

“The system has been in place for years now,” he said. “We can check IDs and log the person purchasing pseudoephedrine in a database. It would limit them to how much they can purchase.”

If a person tried to buy more than the limit, the system would alert the pharmacist and block the sale, Elfinger said.

In many states, the Walgreens system is linked to the state systems, although Elfinger said he wasn’t sure if law enforcement agencies could tap into the Walgreens system.

“We do believe the system we have in place limits purchases of pseudoephedrine for people who don’t need them,” he said. “We were one of the first pharmacies to install the system. It’s been very effective.”

He said the system was a response to the growing meth problem across the country.

“We were trying to be proactive at the time,” he said.

arobinson@bristolnews.com(276) 645-2531