Pseudoephedrine - National Legislation - United States

United States

The United States Congress has recognized pseudoephedrine is used in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine. In 2005, the Committee on Education and the Workforce heard testimony concerning education programs and state legislation designed to curb this illegal practice.

Attempts to control the sale of the drug date back to 1986, when federal officials at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) first drafted legislation, later proposed by Senator Bob Dole, R-KS, that would have placed a number of chemicals used in the manufacture of illicit drugs under the Controlled Substances Act. The bill would have required each transaction involving pseudoephedrine to be reported to the government, and federal approval of all imports and exports. Fearing this would limit legitimate use of the drug, lobbyists from over the counter drug manufacturing associations sought to stop this legislation from moving forward, and were successful in exempting from the regulations created by the bill, all chemicals that had been turned into a legal final product, such as Sudafed.

Prior to the passage of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005, sales of the drug became increasingly regulated, as DEA regulators and pharmaceutical companies continued to fight for their respective positions. The DEA continued to make greater progress in their attempts to control pseudoephedrine as methamphetamine production skyrocketed, becoming a serious problem in the Western United States. When purity dropped, so did the number of people in rehab, and people admitted to emergency rooms with methamphetamine in their systems. However, this reduction in purity was usually short lived as methamphetamine producers eventually found a way around the new regulations.

Congress passed the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 ("CMEA") as an amendment to the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act. Signed into law by president George W. Bush on March 6, 2006, the act amended 21 U.S.C. § 830, concerning the sale of pseudoephedrine-containing products. The law mandated two phases, the first needing to be implemented by April 8, 2006, and the second phase to be completed by September 30, 2006. The first phase dealt primarily with implementing the new buying restrictions based on amount, while the second phase encompassed the requirements of storage, employee training, and record keeping. Though the law was mainly directed at pseudoephedrine products it also applies to all over the counter products containing:ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine, their salts, optical isomers, and salts of optical isomers. Pseudoephedrine was defined as a "scheduled listed chemical product" under 21 U.S.C. § 802(45(A)). The act included the following requirements for merchants ("regulated sellers") who sell such products:

• Required a retrievable record of all purchases, identifying the name and address of each party, to be kept for two years
• Required verification of proof of identity of all purchasers
• Required protection and disclosure methods in the collection of personal information
• Required reports to the Attorney General of any suspicious payments or disappearances of the regulated products
• Required training of employees with regard to the requirements of the CMEA. Retailers must self-certify as to training and compliance.
• The non-liquid dose form of regulated products may only be sold in unit dose blister packs
• Regulated products must be stored behind the counter or in a locked cabinet in such a way as to restrict public access
• Sales limits (per customer):
  • Daily sales limit—must not exceed 3.6 grams of pseudoephedrine base without regard to the number of transactions
  • 30-day (not monthly) sales limit—must not exceed 7.5 grams of pseudoephedrine base if sold by mail order or "mobile retail vendor"
  • 30-day purchase limit—must not exceed 9 grams of pseudoephedrine base. (A misdemeanor possession offense under 21 U.S.C. § 844a for the person who buys it.)

In regards to the identification that may be used by an individual buying pseudoephedrine products the following constitute acceptable forms of identification:

• US passport
• Alien registration or permanent resident card
• Unexpired foreign passport with temporary I-551 stamp
• Unexpired Employment Authorization Document
• Driver's License or Government issued identification card (including Canadian driver's license)
• School ID with picture
• Voter's Registration card
• US Military Card
• Native American tribal documents

Most states also have laws regulating pseudoephedrine.

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawai'i (as of May 1, 2009 (2009 -05-01)) Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana (as of August 15, 2009 (2009 -08-15)) Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin have laws requiring pharmacies to sell pseudoephedrine "behind the counter" and to collect personal information from purchasers.

Oregon and Mississippi require a prescription for the purchase of products containing pseudoephedrine. Oregon reduced the number of methamphetamine lab seizures from 467 in 2004, (the final full year before implementation of the prescription only law), to a new low of 12 in 2009. Some municipalities in Missouri have enacted similar ordinances, including Washington, Union, New Haven, and Cape Girardeau. Certain pharmacies in Terre Haute, Indiana do so as well.

Another approach to controlling the drug on the state level which has been mandated by some state governments to control the purchases of their citizens is the use of electronic tracking systems, which require the electronic submission of specified purchaser information by all retailers who sell pseudoephedrine. Several states that have implemented tracking systems are: Tennessee, Kentucky, and Oklahoma. These states have had mixed results in reducing the number of methamphetamine laboratory seizures in their states. Prior to implementation of the system in Tennessee in 2005, methamphetamine laboratory seizures totaled 1,497 in 2004, but were reduced to 955 in 2005, and 589 in 2009. Kentucky's program was implemented statewide in 2008, but since statewide implementation, the number of laboratory seizures has actually increased. Oklahoma initially experienced success with their tracking system after implementation in 2006, as the number of seizures dropped in that year and again in 2007. However in 2008, seizures began rising again, and have continued to rise in 2009.