To amend the Controlled Substances Act with respect to the regulation of ephedrine alkaloids, including ephedrine and pseudoesphedrine.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Ephedrine Alkaloids Regulation Act 
of 2004''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The United States faces increasing danger related to 
        methamphetamine trafficking, production, and abuse.
            (2) Methamphetamine is a highly addictive drug that can be 
        readily made from products and precursors purchased from retail 
        stores. Step-by-step recipes can easily be found on the 
        Internet, which is a factor in the dramatic increase in the 
        number of clandestine labs in recent years.
            (3) Methamphetamine-producing clandestine laboratories have 
        been identified by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a 
        significant threat to the Nation's public health and safety. 
        The manufacture of methamphetamine produces highly toxic and 
        unstable chemicals that threaten the well-being of first 
        responders, law enforcement officers, and the community at-
        large.
            (4) Methamphetamine production, once exclusively found in 
        West Coast States, has rapidly moved eastward to the Midwest. 
        Production can now be found on the East Coast, in the States of 
        New York and Florida.
            (5) Methamphetamine abuse is indiscriminate of age, 
        socioeconomic level, or race.
            (6) Pseudoephedrine is a necessary precursor chemical in 
        the production of methamphetamine, which prompted the Drug 
        Enforcement Administration to initiate investigations regarding 
        the chemical's sale and distribution.
            (7) Efforts to reduce access to pseudoephedrine by 
        methamphetamine producers, such as blister packaging and sales 
        thresholds, have not been effective deterrents, and 
        pseudoephedrine tablets remain pervasive in the illicit 
        production of methamphetamine.
            (8) Pseudoephedrine in liquid gel and liquid forms have not 
        been found to be used in methamphetamine production.
            (9) As States and communities attempt to combat and control 
        methamphetamine through restricting the sale of pseudoephedrine 
        products, it is incumbent upon the Congress to develop a 
        uniform standard for the distribution of pseudoephedrine in 
        tablet form.

SEC. 2. CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES; ADDITION OF EPHEDRINE ALKALOIDS TO 
              SCHEDULE V.

    (a) In General.--Effective upon the expiration of 30 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, ephedrine alkaloids (including 
ephedrine and pseudoesphedrine), and their salts, optical isomers, and 
salts of optical isomers, shall be considered to be listed in schedule 
V of the schedules of controlled substances established under section 
202(c) of the Controlled Substances Act, subject to subsection (b). The 
Attorney General shall amend part 1308 of title 21, Code of Federal 
Regulations, accordingly.
    (b) Certain Forms of Pseudoephedrine.--Subject to the authority of 
the Attorney General under the Controlled Substances Act to designate 
drugs or other substances as controlled substances or listed 
chemicals--
            (1) subsection (a) does not apply to pseudoephedrine when 
        contained in a drug that is in liquid or gel form and is 
        marketed or distributed lawfully in the United States under the 
        Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; and
            (2) pseudoephedrine when so contained shall be considered a 
        listed chemical.

SEC. 3. REGULATION OF TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING LISTED CHEMICALS; 
              EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN DOSAGE FORMS OF PSEUDOEPHEDRINE.

    (a) Definition of Regulated Transaction.--Section 102(39)(A)(iv) of 
the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802(39)(A)(iv)) is amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding subclause (I), by striking 
        ``unless--'' and inserting ``unless, subject to clause (v)--'';
            (2) in subclause (I), by inserting ``in liquid or gel 
        form'' after ``pseudoephedrine'' the first place such term 
        appears; and
            (3) in subclause (II)--
                    (A) by inserting ``in liquid or gel form'' after 
                ``pseudoephedrine'' the first place such term appears; 
                and
                    (B) by striking ``except that'' and all that 
                follows and inserting the following: ``except that the 
                threshold for any sale of products containing 
                pseudoephedrine products in liquid or gel form, or 
                containing phenylpropanolamine products, by retail 
                distributors or by distributors required to submit 
                reports by section 310(b)(3) shall be 9 grams of 
                pseudoephedrine or 9 grams of phenylpropanolamine in a 
                single transaction and sold in package sizes of not 
                more than 3 grams of pseudoephedrine base or 3 grams of 
                phenylpropanolamine base; or''.
    (b) Definition of Ordinary Over-The-Counter Pseudoephedrine or 
Phenylpropanolamine Product.--Section 102(45) of the Controlled 
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802(45)) is amended in the matter preceding 
subparagraph (A) by striking ``containing pseudoephedrine or 
phenylpropanolamine that'' and inserting ``containing pseudoephedrine 
in liquid or gel form, or containing phenylpropanolamine, that''.

Summary: Ephedrine Alkaloids Regulation Act of 2004 - Requires ephedrine alkaloids, including ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, to be listed in schedule V (drugs or other substances having a low potential for abuse, that have a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, abuse of which may lead to limited physical or psychological dependence) of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Excepts pseudoephedrine when contained in a drug that is in liquid or gel form marketed or distributed lawfully in the United States under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (which shall be considered a listed chemical).

 Amends CSA to revise the definition of: (1) "regulated transaction" to provide that the threshold for any distributor sale of products containing pseudoephedrine products in liquid or gel form, or containing phenylpropanolamine products, shall be nine grams of pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine in a single transaction and sold in package sizes of not more than three grams of pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine base; and (2) "ordinary over-the-counter pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine product" to mean certain products containing pseudoephedrine in liquid or gel form (currently, products containing pseudoephedrine) that meet specified requirements.