WHEREAS, there were 529 reported methamphetamine laboratory fires or explosions nationwide in 2003 (National Drug Threat Assessment 2004); and

WHEREAS, the annual cost for cleanup of clandestine laboratories in the United States increased from $2 million in 1995 to $23.8 million in 2002 (National Drug Threat Assessment 2004); and

WHEREAS, the number of methamphetamine laboratory seizures increased from 9,196 in 2002 to 10,129 in 2003 (El Paso Intelligence Center Clandestine Laboratory Seizure System, May 24, 2004); and

WHEREAS, past year users of methamphetamine increased from 1.3 million in 2001 to 1.5 million in 2002 (National Drug Threat Assessment 2004); and

WHEREAS, the estimated number of emergency room mentions for methamphetamine increased from 14,923 in 2001 to 17,696 in 2002 [Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSA), Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), 2002]; and

WHEREAS, methamphetamine is a dangerous drug distributed throughout the United States and around the world; and

WHEREAS, the manufacture, distribution, and use of methamphetamine results in increased crime, damage to the environment, hazardous waste that endangers the public, expensive cleanup costs often borne by federal, state, and local government agencies; and

WHEREAS, pseudoephedrine is one of the basic precursor chemicals used in the manufacture of methamphetamine; and

WHEREAS, methamphetamine manufacturers often obtain pseudoephedrine from retail and wholesale distributors, in both bottles and blister packs, and that the use of pseudoephedrine tablets in blister packs is pervasive in the illicit production of methamphetamine in both small and large clandestine methamphetamine laboratories; and

WHEREAS, while current law establishes a retail sales limit of 9 grams for most pseudoephedrine products, including common cold medicine, there is no such limit on the sale of blister-packed pseudoephedrine products (Methamphetamine Blister Pack Loophole Elimination Act of 2003); and

WHEREAS, the 9-gram limit on bottled pseudoephedrine allows an individual to purchase approximately 366 thirty-milligram tablets at one time, which is more than enough for a typical consumer in one transaction (Methamphetamine Blister Pack Loophole Elimination Act of 2003); and

WHEREAS, in March 2002, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) recommended that retail distribution of pseudoephedrine tablets in blister packages should not be exempt from the 9 gram retail sales limit (Methamphetamine Blister Pack Loophole Elimination Act of 2003); and

WHEREAS, in recommending legislation to correct the current disparity in the law between bottled and blister packed pseudoephedrine tablets, the DEA stated that “The removal of this difference would significantly prevent illicit access to this methamphetamine precursor and would be easier for both the government and the industry to monitor and would increase compliance by retailers (Methamphetamine Blister Pack Loophole Elimination Act of 2003);” and

WHEREAS, the Methamphetamine Blister Pack Loophole Elimination Act of 2004 has been introduced and is designed to close a loophole that allows illegal drug producers to purchase large quantities of the cold and allergy drug pseudoephedrine, which is often used to make methamphetamine, in blister packs (Methamphetamine Blister Pack Loophole Elimination Act of 2003); now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) duly assembled at its 111th Annual Conference in Los Angeles, California, strongly endorses new legislation to eliminate the safe harbor for “Blister Packs” so that blister pack pseudoephedrine products are subject to regulatory controls that require documentation of sales; require the placement of pseudoephedrine products behind the pharmacist counter; and require that sales are limited to 9 grams per purchase. The IACP urges the pharmaceutical industry to support the legislation voluntarily.