Supporting Legislative Model Requiring Prescription For Pseudoephedrine, Ephedrine and Phenylpropanolamine
Submitted by: Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Committee
ndd.011.A11

WHEREAS, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) recognizes that the recreational use of amphetamine and methamphetamine is a significant law enforcement and societal problem; and

WHEREAS, chemical precursors such as pseudoephdrine, ephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine are essential ingredients for the illicit production of amphetamine and methamphetamine; and

WHEREAS, within the United States, pseudoephdrine, ephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine (hereinafter chemical precursors) are often obtained legally by purchasing pharmaceuticals containing these chemical precursors over-the-counter at pharmacies; and

WHEREAS, the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act (CMEA) was enacted in 2006 to stem the availability of these chemical precursors; and

WHEREAS, CMEA regulates, among other things, retail over-the-counter sales of products containing these chemical precursors by limiting daily sales, imposing 30-day purchase limits, and isolating products from direct customer access; and

WHEREAS, although CMEA was initially successful in reducing the availability of these chemical precursors, traffickers have adopted a technique called "smurfing" to circumvent the requirements of the CMEA. Smurfing is the practice of using fake forms of identification to purchase several small quantities of the required chemical precursors at multiple retail establishments to avoid the CMEA purchase limitations; and

WHEREAS, to further restrict access to these chemical precursors in light of efforts to circumvent the CMEA, several state jurisdictions have either enacted or are contemplating enacting legislation that would require a prescription for the purchase of all products containing these precursor chemicals; and

WHEREAS, there are indications that such legislation is successful in stemming the availability of these chemical precursors and reducing the supply of these precursor chemicals and would result, over time, in a decreased number of methamphetamine labs, societal costs, and crime rates; and

WHEREAS, requiring a prescription for all products that contain these chemical precursors would control the availability of chemical precursors essential to the production of amphetamine and methamphetamine; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police, duly assembled at its 118th Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois, recommends that the availability of all compounds, mixtures, or preparations that contain a detectable amount of pseudoephdrine, ephedrine, and/or phenylpropanolamine, or their salts or optical isomers, be limited by requiring a prescription from a licensed physician or licensed health care professional authorized to prescribe medications.