Combat Meth Act of 2005

Bill: 109-s-103
Sponsor: Sen. Talent, Jim [R-MO]
Introduced: 2005-01-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Administrative remedies
Airports
Attorneys general
Authorization
Business records
Child health
Commerce
Computer software
Computers
Criminal investigation
Criminal justice information
Data banks
Department of Health and Human Services
Drug abuse
Drug abuse prevention
Drug abuse treatment
Drug law enforcement
Drug traffic
Drugs
Drugs and youth
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Environmental Protection
Equipment and supplies
Evidence (Law)
Families
Federal aid to child health services
Federal aid to law enforcement
Federal aid to research
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Fraud
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government publicity
Hazardous wastes
Health
Higher education
Housing and Community Development
Identification devices
Interstate relations
Labor and Employment
Laboratories
Larceny
Law
Law enforcement officers
Legal education
Licenses
Medical records
Medical research
Medication abuse
Methamphetamine
Nonprofit organizations
Pharmacies
Pharmacists
Photography
Police
Police training
Prosecution
Public prosecutors
Recruiting of employees
Research centers
Rural crime
Rural health
Science, Technology, Communications
Social Welfare
Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
action_date: 2005-01-24
text: 
Combat Meth Act of 2005 - Authorizes funds to provide training to State and local prosecutors and law enforcement agents for investigation and prosecution of methamphetamine offenses, including a set-aside for prosecutors and law enforcement agents for rural communities.
 
Amends: (1) the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to expand the public safety and community policing grant program to authorize the use of grant funds to hire personnel and purchase equipment to assist in enforcing and prosecuting methamphetamine offenses and in cleaning up methamphetamine-affected areas; (2) the Controlled Substances Act to add pseudoephedrine to schedule V; and (3) the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants for the development of drug endangered children rapid response teams and grants to local governments, Indian tribes, and nonprofit private entities to provide treatment for methamphetamine abuse. 
 
Directs the Attorney General to allocate funds for the hiring and training of special assistant U.S. attorneys. Authorizes the Attorney General, acting through the Bureau of Justice Assistance, to award grants to States to establish methamphetamine precursor monitoring programs.

action_date: 2005-07-28
text: 
Combat Meth Act of 2005 - 
Title I: Enforcement - Subtitle A: Amendments to Controlled Substances Act
 - (Sec. 101) Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to add pseudoephedrine and ephedrine as schedule V substances.
 
 Requires a distributor or pharmacy that sells such a pseudoephedrine substance to ensure that: (1) it is dispensed or sold at retail only by a practitioner, pharmacist, or individual under the pharmacist's supervision as permitted by the state; (2) any person purchasing, receiving, or otherwise acquiring it, prior to taking possession, provides an approved federal or state-issued photo identification (or alternative form of identification authorized by the Attorney General) and signs or makes an entry in a written or electronic log documenting the transaction date, the name of the person, and the name and amount of the substance acquired; and (3) no person acquires more than 7.5 grams of such substance within any 30-day period.
 
Authorizes the Attorney General to exempt a product: (1) upon determining that it cannot be used in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine or any other controlled dangerous substance; or (2) upon the manufacturer's application if the Attorney General determines that it has been formulated in such a way as to effectively prevent the conversion of the active ingredient into methamphetamine.
 
Allows the Attorney General to authorize the sale of such substance by persons other than a practitioner at a location other than a pharmacy if: (1) the Attorney General determines that the retail facility is located within a commercial service airport and sells the substance packaged in liquid and liquid filled gelcaps only, with each single sales package containing not more than 360 mg. per person in a 24-hour period; (2) the Attorney General has issued an alternate place of sale license to the retail location and has issued an alternate dispenser license to the person authorized to make the sale; (3) the person dispensing the substance follows procedures set forth in this Act; and (4) the authorized person dispensing the substance provides notification of the intention to dispense such substance pursuant to a special exception to each state and local law enforcement authority with jurisdiction to investigate crimes involving controlled substances at such location. Makes the limit inapplicable to any such substance dispensed under a valid prescription.
 
Sets forth requirements regarding rules for the logs, warnings of the potential consequences of false statements or misrepresentations, and alternate forms of identification to be used electronically. Provides immunity from liability for a retailer who in good faith releases information maintained for purposes of compliance with this Act to a law enforcement or regulatory authority, unless the release constitutes gross negligence or intentional, wanton, or willful misconduct.
 
Permits the Attorney General to register an applicant to dispense such a substance at a location other than a pharmacy, and to register an applicant other than a practitioner to dispense such a substance at such a location, upon determining it would be consistent with the public interest. Prohibits the Attorney General from registering an applicant who does not have a valid state license.
 
Requires persons registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to manufacture or distribute controlled substances to maintain adequate security and provide effective controls and procedures to guard against theft and diversion, but provides that such persons shall not otherwise be required to meet the storage, reporting, recordkeeping, or physical security control requirements for pseudoephedrine substances.
 
 Provides that this Act shall not be contrued to prohibit states and their political subdivisions from: (1) adopting and enforcing penalties that are different from those applicable under CSA; and (2) permitting the sale of specified pediatric pseudoephedrine products.
 
(Sec. 102) Requires persons registered with the DEA to manufacture, deliver, distribute, or dispense controlled substances to take reasonable steps to guard against hiring persons who may, as a result of their employment, have access to and become involved in the theft and diversion of controlled substances, including (notwithstanding state law) by asking applicants whether they have been convicted of any controlled substances crime.
 

Title II: Education, Prevention, and Treatment
 - (Sec. 201) Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize: (1) grants for the development of drug endangered children rapid response teams that will intervene on behalf of children exposed to methamphetamine as a result of residing or being present in a home-based clandestine drug laboratory; (2) grants to states, political subdivisions, American Indian tribes, and private, nonprofit entities to provide treatment for methamphetamine abuse (with priority to entities that will serve rural or urban areas experiencing an increase in methamphetamine abuse in states with addiction rates in excess of the national rate); and (3) grants to, or contracts with, public or private nonprofit entities to establish a methamphetamine research, training, and technical assistance center (requires at least one center to focus on abuse in rural areas). Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 203) Authorizes the Attorney General, acting through the Bureau of Justice Assistance, to award grants to states to establish methamphetamine precursor monitoring programs. Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 204) Authorizes funds to provide training to state and local prosecutors and law enforcement agents for the investigation and prosecution of methamphetamine offenses, including a set-aside for prosecutors and agents for rural communities.
 
(Sec. 205) Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to expand the public safety and community policing grant program to authorize the use of grant funds to hire personnel and equipment to assist in the enforcement and prosecution of methamphetamine offenses and in the cleanup of methamphetamine-affected areas.
 
(Sec. 206) Directs the Attorney General to allocate funds for hiring and training special assistant U.S. attorneys.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-09-13
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S9972)
action_date: 2005-07-28
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 184.
action_date: 2005-07-28
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Specter with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
action_date: 2005-07-28
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Specter with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
action_date: 2005-07-28
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2005-01-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S262-263)
action_date: 2005-01-24
text: Introduced in Senate