I 

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. 

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 Abuse Prevention 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 one of the basic pre13 cursor chemicals used in the manufacture of meth14 amphetamine; 

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 per transaction, which is sig6 nificantly more than a typical consumer would need 

7 for legitimate purposes; 

8 (8) reducing the current 9 gram threshold to 6 

9 grams would allow consumers to continue pur10 chasing sufficient medication for legitimate purposes 

11 and would assist efforts to reduce illegal use of the 

12 pseudoephedrine products; 

13 (9) the United States Drug Enforcement Ad14 ministration recommended in March 2002 that retail 

15 distribution of pseudoephedrine tablets in blister 

16 packages should not be exempt from the general re17 tail sales limit; and 

18 (10) in recommending legislation to correct the 

19 current disparity in the law between bottled and blis20 ter-packed pseudoephedrine tablets, the United 

21 States Drug Enforcement Administration stated 

22 that ‘‘The removal of this difference would signifi23 cantly prevent illicit access to this methamphetamine 

24 precursor and would be easier for both the govern-
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1 ment and the industry to monitor and would in2 crease compliance by retailers’’. 

3 SEC. 3. REDUCTION OF RETAIL SALES THRESHOLD TO 6 

4 GRAMS. 

5 Section 102(39)(A)(iv)(II) of the Controlled Sub6 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 802(39)(A)(iv)(II)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘9 grams’’ each place such term 

8 appears and inserting ‘‘6 grams’’; and 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘and sold in package sizes of 

10 not more than 3 grams of pseudoephedrine base or 

11 3 grams of phenylpropanolamine base; or’’ and in12 serting the following: ‘‘and sold in, with respect to 

13 nonliquids, package sizes of not more than 3.0 

14 grams of pseudoephedrine base or 3.0 grams of 

15 phenylpropanolamine base, and packaged in blister 

16 packs, each blister containing not more than 2 dos17 age units, or where the use of blister packs is tech18 nically infeasible, packaged in unit dose packets or 

19 pouches and, with respect to liquids, sold in package 

20 sizes of not more than 3.0 grams of pseudoephedrine 

21 base or 3.0 grams of phenylpropanolamine base; or’’. 

22 SEC. 4. ELIMINATION OF BLISTER PACK EXEMPTION. 

23 (a) REGULATED TRANSACTION.—Section 

24 102(39)(A)(iv)(I)(aa) of the Controlled Substances Act 
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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) DEFINITION.—Section 102 of the Controlled sub4 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 802) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking paragraph (45); and 

6 (2) by redesignating paragraph (46) as para7 graph (45). 

8 (c) RULE OF LAW.—To the extent that there exists 

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

10 and section 401(d) of the Comprehensive Methamphet11 amine Control Act of 1996 (21 U.S.C. 802 note), the 

12 amendment shall control. 

13 SEC. 5. NATIONAL UNIFORMITY FOR RESTRICTIONS ON 

14 THE SALE OF PSEUDOEPHEDRINE PROD15 UCTS. 

16 Section 708 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

17 U.S.C. 903) is amended— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘No’’ and inserting the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

21 (b), no’’; and 

22 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(b) PSEUDOEPHEDRINE DRUG PRODUCT.— 

24 ‘‘(1) STATE AND LOCAL REQUIREMENTS.— 
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No State or political 

2 subdivision of a State or State authorized entity 

3 may establish with respect to the retail sales of 

4 any pseudoephedrine drug product any require5 ment or restriction that is different from, or in 

6 addition to, or that is otherwise not identical 

7 with, the requirements and restrictions that 

8 apply to pseudoephedrine drug products under 

9 this Act. 

10 ‘‘(B) STATE PENALTIES.—Nothing in sub11 paragraph (A) shall be construed as preventing 

12 a State or political subdivision of a State from 

13 adopting penalties that are different from, or in 

14 addition to, or that are otherwise not identical 

15 with, the penalties that apply under this Act. 

16 ‘‘(C) GRANDFATHER CLAUSE.—Subpara17 graph (A) shall not apply to any requirement or 

18 restriction regarding the retail sale of 

19 pseudoephedrine drug products established by a 

20 State or political subdivision of a State or State 

21 authorized entity enacted prior to January 1, 

22 2005, other than a requirement or restriction 

23 allowing any individual to purchase more than 

24 6 grams of pseudoephedrine base in any single 

25 retail transaction. 
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1 ‘‘(2) EXEMPTIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon application of a 

3 State or political subdivision thereof, the Attor4 ney General, not later than 30 days after re5 ceiving the application, may exempt from para6 graph (1)(A), under such conditions as the At7 torney General may prescribe, a State or polit8 ical subdivision requirement upon a determina9 tion by the Attorney General that— 

10 ‘‘(i) pseudoephedrine drug products 

11 obtained in that State or political subdivi12 sion are being used as a significant source 

13 of precursor chemicals for illegal manufac14 ture of a controlled substance for distribu15 tion or sale; 

16 ‘‘(ii) the requirement is likely to sub17 stantially decrease the use of 

18 pseudoephedrine drug products as a source 

19 of precursor chemicals for illegal manufac20 ture of a controlled substance for distribu21 tion or sale; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) the requirement will not unduly 

23 burden interstate commerce. 

24 ‘‘(B) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 
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1 ‘‘(i) REVIEW IN COURT OF AP2 PEALS.—Within 10 days after a deter3 mination by the Attorney General under 

4 subparagraph (A), the State or political 

5 subdivision involved, or an individual af6 fected by the determination, may file a pe7 tition for judicial review of such determina8 tion in the United States Court of Appeals 

9 for the District of Columbia Circuit, which 

10 shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any 

11 such petitions. 

12 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION BY COURT.— 

13 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Within 20 

14 days after a petition under clause (i) 

15 is filed with the court, the court shall 

16 enter final judgement on the petition. 

17 ‘‘(II) SERVICE REGARDING PETI18 TION.—With respect to a petition 

19 under clause (i), if the court deter20 mines that proper service was not 

21 made on the Attorney General within 

22 5 days after the date on which the pe23 tition was filed with the court, the 

24 running of the 20-day period under 

25 subclause (I) shall not begin before 
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1 the day on which proper service was 

2 made on the Attorney General. 

3 ‘‘(iii) FINALITY OF DETERMINA4 TION.—Any determination made by the 

5 court under this subparagraph shall be 

6 final and conclusive and shall not be re7 viewed by any other court. 

8 ‘‘(C) COMPUTATION OF DAYS.—For pur9 poses of this paragraph, Saturday, Sunday, or 

10 a legal holiday in the District of Columbia shall 

11 not be counted as the last day of any period. 

12 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this subsection, 

13 the term ‘pseudoephedrine drug product’ means a 

14 product containing pseudoephedrine that may be 

15 marketed or distributed lawfully in the United 

16 States as a drug under the Federal Food, Drug, and 

17 Cosmetic Act.’’. 

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