chpa won again. with newspaper and radio ads, phone banks and lobbyists. >> well, i wasn't prepared for that. i didn't realize that you would walk into an issue like that with that strong of an opposition and how powerful they were. >> tell us how many grams were in the box. >> reporter: chpa's solution is an electronic data base. it tracks retail pseudoephedrine sales. and chpa actually paid to put it in place. it's called nplex. if someone tries to buy more than the legal limit, nplex red flags the sale to block it. >> so it says that exceeds your gram purchase limit. >> obviously, when we put this technology in place, our hope is that it would drive down the meth labs. >> reporter: but last year the number of meth lab busts in missouri was up. nearly 7%. in part because meth makers are still using straw buyers. law enforcement in missouri tells us that meth labs are going up because crooks are circumventing nplex. >> criminals are always going to find ways to get around the system. >> reporter: ri