II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5461 

To amend the Controlled Substances Act to prevent unnecessary resource 

expenditures relating to methamphetamine prosecutions. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 10, 2024 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. HAGERTY, and Mr. CRUZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Controlled Substances Act to prevent unnecessary resource expenditures relating to methamphetamine 

prosecutions. 

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 ‘‘Preventing Unneces5 sary Resource Expenditures Act’’ or the ‘‘PURE Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Methamphetamine is a powerful, highly ad9 dictive synthetic psychostimulant that affects the 


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1 central nervous system. It can cause both short- and 

2 long-term adverse effects, including violent behavior, 

3 permanent neurological damage, and overdose death. 

4 (2) Beyond its destructive effects on individual 

5 health, methamphetamine abuse threatens commu6 nities, generates criminal behavior, produces unem7 ployment, contributes to child neglect and abuse, 

8 and breaks up families. 

9 (3) Domestic production of illicit methamphet10 amine in the United States has decreased signifi11 cantly. Over the past 20 years, clandestine meth12 amphetamine laboratory seizures in the United 

13 States decreased from a high of 23,703 seizures in 

14 2004 to 60 seizures in 2023. 

15 (4) However, according to the Centers for Dis16 ease Control and Prevention, between 2002 and 

17 2022, the rate of overdose deaths involving 

18 psychostimulants, primarily methamphetamine, in19 creased more than 34 times, with 0.3 deaths per 

20 100,000 in 2002 and 10.4 deaths per 100,000 in 

21 2022. 

22 (5) In 2020, methamphetamine surpassed co23 caine as the second most common drug involved in 

24 overdose deaths, after fentanyl, and it has remained 

25 in second place since then. According to the Centers 


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1 for Disease Control and Prevention, from 2021 

2 through 2023, methamphetamine was associated 

3 with 95,063 overdose deaths. 

4 (6) According to the 2024 National Drug 

5 Threat Assessment published by the Drug Enforce6 ment Administration, 31 percent of drug-related 

7 deaths in the United States are caused by 

8 psychostimulants, mostly methamphetamine. 

9 (7) From 2021 through 2023, the Drug En10 forcement Administration seized 232,926 kilograms 

11 of methamphetamine. By comparison, from 2001 

12 through 2003, the Federal-wide Drug Seizure Sys13 tem showed a total seizure of 10,305 kilograms of 

14 methamphetamine. 

15 (8) The sharp rise in methamphetamine of16 fenses and overdoses can be attributed to Mexican 

17 cartels, which now produce the vast majority of the 

18 methamphetamine distributed in the United States. 

19 (9) The People’s Republic of China supplies the 

20 bulk of precursor chemicals that are used in the pro21 duction of synthetic methamphetamine by Mexican 

22 drug cartels. In turn, Mexican cartels produce sig23 nificant quantities of highly pure methamphetamine 

24 in large laboratories at low cost. The cartels then 


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1 smuggle the illicit substance across the border into 

2 the United States. 

3 (10) Methamphetamine offenses now account 

4 for approximately half of all drug trafficking of5 fenses sentenced federally. 

6 (11) Under section 401 of the Controlled Sub7 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 841), the mandatory min8 imum sentences for manufacturing, distributing, or 

9 dispensing methamphetamine, or for possessing 

10 methamphetamine with the intent to manufacture, 

11 distribute, or dispense, are triggered based on the 

12 purity of the confiscated methamphetamine. 

13 (12) The basis for the disparity in mandatory 

14 minimum thresholds between pure and impure meth15 amphetamine was the fact that defendants in posses16 sion of pure methamphetamine were believed to be 

17 higher up in the distribution chain and thus more 

18 culpable. 

19 (13) According to the 2024 report on Meth20 amphetamine Trafficking Offenses in the Federal 

21 Criminal Justice System by the United States Sen22 tencing Commission, in 1988, when a majority of 

23 the methamphetamine distributed in the United 

24 States was produced by domestic laboratories and 

25 the average purity of methamphetamine was rarely 


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1 greater than 50 percent. Today, it is rare for meth2 amphetamine to test under 90 percent pure. The 

3 methamphetamine tested in fiscal year 2022 had an 

4 average purity of 93.2 percent, with a median purity 

5 of 98.0 percent. 

6 (14) The shift towards purer methamphetamine 

7 occurred as Mexican cartels obtained greater market 

8 share of methamphetamine production and distribu9 tion beginning in the early 2000s. The average pu10 rity per kilogram of methamphetamine tested by the 

11 Drug Enforcement Administration in 2002 was 43 

12 percent, but by 2005 the average purity was 80 per13 cent. 

14 (15) The requirement to establish purity in 

15 prosecutions of methamphetamine distribution places 

16 a significant burden on Federal and State crime lab17 oratories, contributing to a waste of resources and 

18 the overburdening of laboratory technicians who are 

19 already backlogged. 

20 (16) The purity requirement for methamphet21 amine prosecutions is no longer needed given the 

22 statistical improbability of any drug dealer distrib23 uting impure methamphetamine. 

24 (17) At the same time, methamphetamine is a 

25 greater threat to the health, safety, and welfare of 


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1 the people of the United States than it has ever 

2 been. 

3 SEC. 3. ADJUSTMENTS TO LABORATORY REQUIREMENTS IN 

4 METHAMPHETAMINE PROSECUTIONS. 

5 Part D of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 

6 841 et seq.) is amended— 

7 (1) in section 401(b)(1) (21 U.S.C. 

8 841(b)(1))— 

9 (A) in subparagraph (A)(viii), by striking 

10 ‘‘methamphetamine, its salts, isomers, and salts 

11 of its isomers or 500 grams or more of’’; and 

12 (B) in subparagraph (B)(viii), by striking 

13 ‘‘methamphetamine, its salts, isomers, and salts 

14 of its isomers or 50 grams or more of’’; 

15 (2) in section 408 (21 U.S.C. 848)— 

16 (A) by redesignating subsection (s) as sub17 section (f); and 

18 (B) in subsection (f), as so redesignated, 

19 by inserting ‘‘a mixture or substance containing 

20 a detectable amount of’’ after ‘‘involving’’; and 

21 (3) in section 419a (21 U.S.C. 860a), by insert22 ing ‘‘a mixture or substance containing a detectable 

23 amount of’’ before ‘‘methamphetamine’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO THE SENTENCING GUIDELINES. 

2 (a) DIRECTIVE.—Pursuant to its authority under 

3 section 994 of title 28, United States Code, and in accord4 ance with this section, the United States Sentencing Com5 mission shall review and, as appropriate, amend the sen6 tencing guidelines and policy statements applicable to per7 sons convicted of offenses under section 401 of the Con8 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 841) involving meth9 amphetamine, its salts, isomers, and salts of its isomers, 

10 or related crimes involving the manufacture, distribution, 

11 or dispensing, or possessing with intent to manufacture, 

12 distribute, or dispense methamphetamine, its salts, iso13 mers, and salts of its isomers. 

14 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out this sub15 section, the Sentencing Commission shall— 

16 (1) take all appropriate measures to ensure that 

17 the sentencing guidelines and policy statements ap18 plicable to the offenses described in subsection (a) 

19 are sufficiently stringent to deter and adequately re20 flect the direct and aggregate harms caused to indi21 viduals, families, communities, and society by such 

22 offenses; and 

23 (2) consider providing sentencing enhancements 

24 for those convicted of the offenses described in sub25 section (a) that— 

26 (A) involve a large number of victims; 


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1 (B) involve a pattern of continued and fla2 grant violations; 

3 (C) involve the use or threatened use of a 

4 dangerous weapon; or 

5 (D) result in the death or bodily injury of 

6 any person. 

Æ 


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