II 

Calendar No. 763 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D 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, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. SCHUMER, and Mr. TALENT) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

OCTOBER 4, 2004 

Reported by Mr. HATCH, without amendment 

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’’. 
2 

S 1784 RS 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) methamphetamine is a dangerous drug dis4 tributed throughout the United States; 

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

6 methamphetamine results in increased crime, dam7 age to the environment, hazardous waste that en8 dangers the public, expensive cleanup costs often 

9 borne by Federal, State, and local government agen10 cies, and broken families; 

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

12 availability of chemicals and equipment used in the 

13 manufacturing of methamphetamine; 

14 (4) pseudoephedrine is 1 of the basic precursor 

15 chemicals used in the manufacture of methamphet16 amine; 

17 (5) the United States Drug Enforcement Ad18 ministration has indicated that methamphetamine 

19 manufacturers often obtain pseudoephedrine from 

20 retail and wholesale distributors, in both bottles and 

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

22 tablets in blister packs is pervasive in the illicit pro23 duction of methamphetamine in both small and large 

24 clandestine methamphetamine laboratories; 

25 (6) while current law establishes a retail sales 

26 limit of 9 grams for most pseudoephedrine products, 
3 

S 1784 RS 

1 including common cold medicine, there is no such 

2 limit on the sale of blister-packed pseudoephedrine 

3 products; 

4 (7) the 9 gram limit on bottled pseudoephedrine 

5 allows an individual to purchase approximately 366 

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

7 than enough for a typical consumer in 1 transaction; 

8 (8) the United States Drug Enforcement Ad9 ministration recommended in March 2002 that retail 

10 distribution of pseudoephedrine tablets in blister 

11 packages should not be exempt from the 9 gram re12 tail sales limit; and 

13 (9) in recommending legislation to correct the 

14 current disparity in the law between bottled and blis15 ter-packed pseudoephedrine tablets, the United 

16 States Drug Enforcement Administration stated 

17 that ‘‘The removal of this difference would signifi18 cantly prevent illicit access to this methamphetamine 

19 precursor and would be easier for both the govern20 ment and the industry to monitor and would in21 crease compliance by retailers’’. 

22 SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF BLISTER PACK EXEMPTION. 

23 (a) REGULATED TRANSACTION.—Section 

24 102(39)(A)(iv)(I)(aa) of the Controlled Substances Act 
4 

S 1784 RS 

1 (21 U.S.C. 802(39)(A)(iv)(I)(aa)) is amended by striking 

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

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

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

5 and section 401(d) of the Comprehensive Methamphet6 amine Control Act of 1996 (21 U.S.C. 802 note), the 

7 amendment shall control. 

Calendar No. 763 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1784 

A BILL 

To eliminate the safe-harbor exception for certain 

manufacture of methamphetamine. packaged pseudoephedrine products used in the 

OCTOBER 4, 2004 

Reported without amendment