I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3789

To eliminate the safe-harbor exception for certain packaged pseudoephedrine 

products used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2004

Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota 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.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Methamphetamine 

5 Blister Pack Loophole Elimination Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) methamphetamine is a dangerous drug dis2 tributed throughout the United States; 

3 (2) the manufacture, distribution, and use of 

4 methamphetamine results in increased crime, dam5 age to the environment, hazardous waste that en6 dangers the public, expensive cleanup costs often 

7 borne by Federal, State, and local government agen8 cies, and broken families; 

9 (3) Congress has acted many times to limit the 

10 availability of chemicals and equipment used in the 

11 manufacturing of methamphetamine; 

12 (4) pseudoephedrine is 1 of the basic precursor 

13 chemicals used in the manufacture of methamphet14 amine; 

15 (5) the United States Drug Enforcement Ad16 ministration has indicated that methamphetamine 

17 manufacturers often obtain pseudoephedrine from 

18 retail and wholesale distributors, in both bottles and 

19 ‘‘blister packs’’, and that the use of pseudoephedrine 

20 tablets in blister packs is pervasive in the illicit pro21 duction of methamphetamine in both small and large 

22 clandestine methamphetamine laboratories; 

23 (6) while current law establishes a retail sales 

24 limit of 9 grams for most pseudoephedrine products, 

25 including common cold medicine, there is no such 
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1 limit on the sale of blister-packed pseudoephedrine 

2 products; 

3 (7) the 9 gram limit on bottled pseudoephedrine 

4 allows an individual to purchase approximately 366 

5 thirty-milligram tablets at 1 time, which is more 

6 than enough for a typical consumer in 1 transaction; 

7 (8) the United States Drug Enforcement Ad8 ministration recommended in March 2002 that retail 

9 distribution of pseudoephedrine tablets in blister 

10 packages should not be exempt from the 9 gram re11 tail sales limit; and 

12 (9) in recommending legislation to correct the 

13 current disparity in the law between bottled and blis14 ter-packed pseudoephedrine tablets, the United 

15 States Drug Enforcement Administration stated 

16 that ‘‘The removal of this difference would signifi17 cantly prevent illicit access to this methamphetamine 

18 precursor and would be easier for both the govern19 ment and the industry to monitor and would in20 crease compliance by retailers’’. 

21 SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF BLISTER PACK EXEMPTION. 

22 (a) REGULATED TRANSACTION.—Section 

23 102(39)(A)(iv)(I)(aa) of the Controlled Substances Act 

24 (21 U.S.C. 802(39)(A)(iv)(I)(aa)) is amended by striking 

25 ‘‘(except that’’ and all that follows through ‘‘1996)’’. 
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1 (b) RULE OF LAW.—To the extent that there exists 

2 a conflict between the amendment made by subsection (a) 

3 and section 401(d) of the Comprehensive Methamphet4 amine Control Act of 1996 (21 U.S.C. 802 note), the 

5 amendment shall control.

Æ