II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST 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, and Mr. HARKIN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

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 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) methamphetamine is a dangerous drug dis9 tributed throughout the United States; 
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1 (2) the manufacture, distribution, and use of 

2 methamphetamine results in increased crime, dam3 age to the environment, hazardous waste that en4 dangers the public, expensive cleanup costs often 

5 borne by Federal, State, and local government agen6 cies, and broken families; 

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

8 availability of chemicals and equipment used in the 

9 manufacturing of methamphetamine; 

10 (4) pseudoephedrine is 1 of the basic precursor 

11 chemicals used in the manufacture of methamphet12 amine; 

13 (5) the United States Drug Enforcement Ad14 ministration has indicated that methamphetamine 

15 manufacturers often obtain pseudoephedrine from 

16 retail and wholesale distributors, in both bottles and 

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

18 tablets in blister packs is pervasive in the illicit pro19 duction of methamphetamine in both small and large 

20 clandestine methamphetamine laboratories; 

21 (6) while current law establishes a retail sales 

22 limit of 9 grams for most pseudoephedrine products, 

23 including common cold medicine, there is no such 

24 limit on the sale of blister-packed pseudoephedrine 

25 products; 
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1 (7) the 9 gram limit on bottled pseudoephedrine 

2 allows an individual to purchase approximately 366 

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

4 than enough for a typical consumer in 1 transaction; 

5 (8) the United States Drug Enforcement Ad6 ministration recommended in March 2002 that retail 

7 distribution of pseudoephedrine tablets in blister 

8 packages should not be exempt from the 9 gram re9 tail sales limit; and 

10 (9) in recommending legislation to correct the 

11 current disparity in the law between bottled and blis12 ter-packed pseudoephedrine tablets, the United 

13 States Drug Enforcement Administration stated 

14 that ‘‘The removal of this difference would signifi15 cantly prevent illicit access to this methamphetamine 

16 precursor and would be easier for both the govern17 ment and the industry to monitor and would in18 crease compliance by retailers’’. 

19 SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF BLISTER PACK EXEMPTION. 

20 (a) REGULATED TRANSACTION.—Section 

21 102(39)(A)(iv)(I)(aa) of the Controlled Substances Act 

22 (21 U.S.C. 802(39)(A)(iv)(I)(aa)) is amended by striking 

23 ‘‘(except that’’ and all that follows through ‘‘1996)’’. 

24 (b) RULE OF LAW.—To the extent that there exists 

25 a conflict between the amendment made by subsection (a) 
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1 and section 401(d) of the Comprehensive Methamphet2 amine Control Act of 1996 (21 U.S.C. 802 note), the 

3 amendment shall control.

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