New laws in the illegal Crystal Meth trade will hopefully make it harder for meth manufactures to get their hands on key ingredients. The new law in question was sponsored by Senate Judiciary Chairman Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) and it took effect on January 1 .

This includes major legislation implementing a statewide electronic tracking system to curb meth production in the state.

The system, called NPLEx (National Precursor Log Exchange), will monitor and block illegal purchases of over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines containing pseudoephedrine (PSE), a key ingredient in methamphetamine production.

Previously, there was no mechanism in place in Tennessee to block illegal pseudoephedrine sales in real time, with pharmacies and retailers having to rely on handwritten, paper logbooks to track purchases. As a result, criminals learned to circumvent the system.

The new law requires that as of January 1, 2012, all pharmacies must use National Precursor Log Exchange, which exports the data to law enforcement. The NPLEx system must have a stop sale mechanism in place by that time for potential purchasers over the allowable purchase limit and anyone on the meth offender registry.