[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5347 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5347

      To eliminate the safe-harbor exception for certain packaged 
 pseudoephedrine products used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 8, 2004

Mr. Souder (for himself, Mr. Wamp, Mr. Calvert, and Mr. Ose) 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 eliminate the safe-harbor exception for certain packaged 
 pseudoephedrine products used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, 
                        and for other purposes.

    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 Abuse Prevention Act 
of 2004''.

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 one 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 per transaction, which is significantly more than a 
        typical consumer would need for legitimate purposes;
            (8) reducing the current 9 gram threshold to 6 grams would 
        allow consumers to continue purchasing sufficient medication 
        for legitimate purposes and would assist efforts to reduce 
        illegal use of the pseudoephedrine products;
            (9) 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 general retail sales limit; and
            (10) 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. REDUCTION OF RETAIL SALES THRESHOLD TO 6 GRAMS.

    Section 102(39)(A)(iv)(II) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 
U.S.C. 802(39)(A)(iv)(II)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``9 grams'' each place such term appears 
        and inserting ``6 grams''; and
            (2) by striking ``and sold in package sizes of not more 
        than 3 grams of pseudoephedrine base or 3 grams of 
        phenylpropanolamine base; or'' and inserting the following: 
        ``and sold in, with respect to nonliquids, package sizes of not 
        more than 3.0 grams of pseudoephedrine base or 3.0 grams of 
        phenylpropanolamine base, and packaged in blister packs, each 
        blister containing not more than 2 dosage units, or where the 
        use of blister packs is technically infeasible, packaged in 
        unit dose packets or pouches and, with respect to liquids, sold 
        in package sizes of not more than 3.0 grams of pseudoephedrine 
        base or 3.0 grams of phenylpropanolamine base; or''.

SEC. 4. 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) Definition.--Section 102 of the Controlled substances Act (21 
U.S.C. 802) is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (45); and
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (46) as paragraph (45).
    (c) 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.

SEC. 5. NATIONAL UNIFORMITY FOR RESTRICTIONS ON THE SALE OF 
              PSEUDOEPHEDRINE PRODUCTS.

    Section 708 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 903) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``No'' and inserting the following:
    ``(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), no''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Pseudoephedrine Drug Product.--
            ``(1) State and local requirements.--
                    ``(A) In general.--No State or political 
                subdivision of a State or State authorized entity may 
                establish with respect to the retail sales of any 
                pseudoephedrine drug product any requirement or 
                restriction that is different from, or in addition to, 
                or that is otherwise not identical with, the 
                requirements and restrictions that apply to 
                pseudoephedrine drug products under this Act.
                    ``(B) State penalties.--Nothing in subparagraph (A) 
                shall be construed as preventing a State or political 
                subdivision of a State from adopting penalties that are 
                different from, or in addition to, or that are 
                otherwise not identical with, the penalties that apply 
                under this Act.
                    ``(C) Grandfather clause.--Subparagraph (A) shall 
                not apply to any requirement or restriction regarding 
                the retail sale of pseudoephedrine drug products 
                established by a State or political subdivision of a 
                State or State authorized entity enacted prior to 
                January 1, 2005, other than a requirement or 
                restriction allowing any individual to purchase more 
                than 6 grams of pseudoephedrine base in any single 
                retail transaction.
            ``(2) Exemptions.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Upon application of a State or 
                political subdivision thereof, the Attorney General, 
                not later than 30 days after receiving the application, 
                may exempt from paragraph (1)(A), under such conditions 
                as the Attorney General may prescribe, a State or 
                political subdivision requirement upon a determination 
                by the Attorney General that--
                            ``(i) pseudoephedrine drug products 
                        obtained in that State or political subdivision 
                        are being used as a significant source of 
                        precursor chemicals for illegal manufacture of 
                        a controlled substance for distribution or 
                        sale;
                            ``(ii) the requirement is likely to 
                        substantially decrease the use of 
                        pseudoephedrine drug products as a source of 
                        precursor chemicals for illegal manufacture of 
                        a controlled substance for distribution or 
                        sale; and
                            ``(iii) the requirement will not unduly 
                        burden interstate commerce.
                    ``(B) Judicial review.--
                            ``(i) Review in court of appeals.--Within 
                        10 days after a determination by the Attorney 
                        General under subparagraph (A), the State or 
                        political subdivision involved, or an 
                        individual affected by the determination, may 
                        file a petition for judicial review of such 
                        determination in the United States Court of 
                        Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 
                        which shall have exclusive jurisdiction over 
                        any such petitions.
                            ``(ii) Determination by court.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--Within 20 days 
                                after a petition under clause (i) is 
                                filed with the court, the court shall 
                                enter final judgement on the petition.
                                    ``(II) Service regarding 
                                petition.--With respect to a petition 
                                under clause (i), if the court 
                                determines that proper service was not 
                                made on the Attorney General within 5 
                                days after the date on which the 
                                petition was filed with the court, the 
                                running of the 20-day period under 
                                subclause (I) shall not begin before 
                                the day on which proper service was 
                                made on the Attorney General.
                            ``(iii) Finality of determination.--Any 
                        determination made by the court under this 
                        subparagraph shall be final and conclusive and 
                        shall not be reviewed by any other court.
                    ``(C) Computation of days.--For purposes of this 
                paragraph, Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday in the 
                District of Columbia shall not be counted as the last 
                day of any period.
            ``(3) Definitions.--As used in this subsection, the term 
        `pseudoephedrine drug product' means a product containing 
        pseudoephedrine that may be marketed or distributed lawfully in 
        the United States as a drug under the Federal Food, Drug, and 
        Cosmetic Act.''.
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