CHPA understands the scope and complexity of the methamphetamine problem and actively supports efforts to prevent the diversion of legitimate precursor chemicals to the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine.
Methamphetamine, also known as "meth," is an illegal and highly addictive drug. Pseudoephedrine, a safe, effective, and widely-used over-the-counter decongestant, can be used to manufacture methamphetamine.
The federal Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act (CMEA), which went into effect September 30, 2006, mandates that pseudoephedrine products be kept behind the retail sales counter, imposes sales limits on products containing pseudoephedrine, and requires that retailers keep sales logbooks. CHPA was pleased to lend its support to this initiative.
The restrictions imposed by the CMEA have proven to be effective in the fight against methamphetamine. The U.S. Department of State’s 2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report indicates that these domestic controls are at least partially responsible for a continued decline in 2007 of the number of small-scale domestic producers of methamphetamine.
CHPA supports pending federal legislation that would take additional steps to curb illegal methamphetamine production.
The Methamphetamine Production Prevention Act of 2007
Companion versions of this legislation have been introduced (S. 1276 and H.R. 2747), in the Senate by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and in the House of Representatives by Representative Keith Ellison (D-Minn.). The bill, as introduced, would amend the Controlled Substances Act to expand electronic logbook requirements applicable to sellers and purchasers of listed chemicals (e.g., legal substances used in the production of methamphetamine). It would authorize the Department of Justice to make three-year grants to state and local governments to plan, develop, implement, or enhance methamphetamine precursor electronic logbook systems. It establishes a preference for grant recipients who develop electronic logbook systems that are: (1) statewide; (2) capable of real-time capture and transmission of logbook information to law enforcement and regulatory agencies; and (3) designed to share information across jurisdictional boundaries. Finally, it would require the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on the effectiveness of methamphetamine precursor electronic logbook systems.
The Combat Methamphetamine Enhancement Act of 2007
Companion versions of this legislation have been introduced (S. 2071 and H.R. 5619), in the Senate by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and in the House of Representatives by Representative Rick Boucher (D-Va.). The bill, as introduced, would prohibit distributors of pseudoephedrine from making deliveries to retailers who have not certified that they are in compliance with the requirements of the CMEA.
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