[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1784 Reported in Senate (RS)]
Calendar No. 763
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1784
To eliminate the safe-harbor exception for certain packaged
pseudoephedrine products used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 23, 2003
Mrs. Feinstein (for herself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Biden, Mr.
Kyl, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Schumer, and Mr. Talent) introduced
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary
October 4, 2004
Reported by Mr. Hatch, without amendment
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To eliminate the safe-harbor exception for certain packaged
pseudoephedrine products used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Methamphetamine Blister Pack
Loophole Elimination Act of 2003''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) methamphetamine is a dangerous drug distributed
throughout the United States;
(2) the manufacture, distribution, and use of
methamphetamine results in increased crime, damage to the
environment, hazardous waste that endangers the public,
expensive cleanup costs often borne by Federal, State, and
local government agencies, and broken families;
(3) Congress has acted many times to limit the availability
of chemicals and equipment used in the manufacturing of
methamphetamine;
(4) pseudoephedrine is 1 of the basic precursor chemicals
used in the manufacture of methamphetamine;
(5) the United States Drug Enforcement Administration has
indicated that methamphetamine manufacturers often obtain
pseudoephedrine from retail and wholesale distributors, in both
bottles and ``blister packs'', and that the use of
pseudoephedrine tablets in blister packs is pervasive in the
illicit production of methamphetamine in both small and large
clandestine methamphetamine laboratories;
(6) while current law establishes a retail sales limit of 9
grams for most pseudoephedrine products, including common cold
medicine, there is no such limit on the sale of blister-packed
pseudoephedrine products;
(7) the 9 gram limit on bottled pseudoephedrine allows an
individual to purchase approximately 366 thirty-milligram
tablets at 1 time, which is more than enough for a typical
consumer in 1 transaction;
(8) the United States Drug Enforcement Administration
recommended in March 2002 that retail distribution of
pseudoephedrine tablets in blister packages should not be
exempt from the 9 gram retail sales limit; and
(9) in recommending legislation to correct the current
disparity in the law between bottled and blister-packed
pseudoephedrine tablets, the United States Drug Enforcement
Administration stated that ``The removal of this difference
would significantly prevent illicit access to this
methamphetamine precursor and would be easier for both the
government and the industry to monitor and would increase
compliance by retailers''.
SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF BLISTER PACK EXEMPTION.
(a) Regulated Transaction.--Section 102(39)(A)(iv)(I)(aa) of the
Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802(39)(A)(iv)(I)(aa)) is amended
by striking ``(except that'' and all that follows through ``1996)''.
(b) Rule of Law.--To the extent that there exists a conflict
between the amendment made by subsection (a) and section 401(d) of the
Comprehensive Methamphetamine Control Act of 1996 (21 U.S.C. 802 note),
the amendment shall control.
Calendar No. 763
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1784
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To eliminate the safe-harbor exception for certain packaged
pseudoephedrine products used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.
_______________________________________________________________________
October 4, 2004
Reported without amendment