[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4395 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4395
To amend the Controlled Substances Act with respect to the regulation
of ephedrine alkaloids, including ephedrine and pseudoesphedrine.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 19, 2004
Mr. Carson of Oklahoma (for himself and Mr. Sullivan) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a
period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Controlled Substances Act with respect to the regulation
of ephedrine alkaloids, including ephedrine and pseudoesphedrine.
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 ``Ephedrine Alkaloids Regulation Act
of 2004''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) The United States faces increasing danger related to
methamphetamine trafficking, production, and abuse.
(2) Methamphetamine is a highly addictive drug that can be
readily made from products and precursors purchased from retail
stores. Step-by-step recipes can easily be found on the
Internet, which is a factor in the dramatic increase in the
number of clandestine labs in recent years.
(3) Methamphetamine-producing clandestine laboratories have
been identified by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a
significant threat to the Nation's public health and safety.
The manufacture of methamphetamine produces highly toxic and
unstable chemicals that threaten the well-being of first
responders, law enforcement officers, and the community at-
large.
(4) Methamphetamine production, once exclusively found in
West Coast States, has rapidly moved eastward to the Midwest.
Production can now be found on the East Coast, in the States of
New York and Florida.
(5) Methamphetamine abuse is indiscriminate of age,
socioeconomic level, or race.
(6) Pseudoephedrine is a necessary precursor chemical in
the production of methamphetamine, which prompted the Drug
Enforcement Administration to initiate investigations regarding
the chemical's sale and distribution.
(7) Efforts to reduce access to pseudoephedrine by
methamphetamine producers, such as blister packaging and sales
thresholds, have not been effective deterrents, and
pseudoephedrine tablets remain pervasive in the illicit
production of methamphetamine.
(8) Pseudoephedrine in liquid gel and liquid forms have not
been found to be used in methamphetamine production.
(9) As States and communities attempt to combat and control
methamphetamine through restricting the sale of pseudoephedrine
products, it is incumbent upon the Congress to develop a
uniform standard for the distribution of pseudoephedrine in
tablet form.
SEC. 2. CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES; ADDITION OF EPHEDRINE ALKALOIDS TO
SCHEDULE V.
(a) In General.--Effective upon the expiration of 30 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, ephedrine alkaloids (including
ephedrine and pseudoesphedrine), and their salts, optical isomers, and
salts of optical isomers, shall be considered to be listed in schedule
V of the schedules of controlled substances established under section
202(c) of the Controlled Substances Act, subject to subsection (b). The
Attorney General shall amend part 1308 of title 21, Code of Federal
Regulations, accordingly.
(b) Certain Forms of Pseudoephedrine.--Subject to the authority of
the Attorney General under the Controlled Substances Act to designate
drugs or other substances as controlled substances or listed
chemicals--
(1) subsection (a) does not apply to pseudoephedrine when
contained in a drug that is in liquid or gel form and is
marketed or distributed lawfully in the United States under the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; and
(2) pseudoephedrine when so contained shall be considered a
listed chemical.
SEC. 3. REGULATION OF TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING LISTED CHEMICALS;
EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN DOSAGE FORMS OF PSEUDOEPHEDRINE.
(a) Definition of Regulated Transaction.--Section 102(39)(A)(iv) of
the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802(39)(A)(iv)) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding subclause (I), by striking
``unless--'' and inserting ``unless, subject to clause (v)--'';
(2) in subclause (I), by inserting ``in liquid or gel
form'' after ``pseudoephedrine'' the first place such term
appears; and
(3) in subclause (II)--
(A) by inserting ``in liquid or gel form'' after
``pseudoephedrine'' the first place such term appears;
and
(B) by striking ``except that'' and all that
follows and inserting the following: ``except that the
threshold for any sale of products containing
pseudoephedrine products in liquid or gel form, or
containing phenylpropanolamine products, by retail
distributors or by distributors required to submit
reports by section 310(b)(3) shall be 9 grams of
pseudoephedrine or 9 grams of phenylpropanolamine in a
single transaction and sold in package sizes of not
more than 3 grams of pseudoephedrine base or 3 grams of
phenylpropanolamine base; or''.
(b) Definition of Ordinary Over-The-Counter Pseudoephedrine or
Phenylpropanolamine Product.--Section 102(45) of the Controlled
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802(45)) is amended in the matter preceding
subparagraph (A) by striking ``containing pseudoephedrine or
phenylpropanolamine that'' and inserting ``containing pseudoephedrine
in liquid or gel form, or containing phenylpropanolamine, that''.
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