Health groups try to raise awareness of ‘smurfing’

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The Indiana attorney general’s office and several industry groups are launching a statewide campaign to raise public awareness of criminals who purchase cold and allergy medicines containing pseudoephedrine to sell to methamphetamine cooks.

The practice is called “smurfing.”

The Indiana Pharmacists Alliance, the Indiana Retailers Council, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association and other groups announced the anti-smurfing campaign Tuesday in Evansville.

The effort aims to inform consumers through signage at the point of sale that the simple act of buying certain cold or allergy product for a stranger can fuel Indiana’s methamphetamine problem.

The public-private partnership was developed by the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, a national association representing the makers of over-the-counter medicines.