| Issue Statements - Accomplishments |
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Combating Methamphetamine
Many people don’t know that methamphetamine can be “cooked” using an ingredient found in cold medication, pseudophedrine. The fact that it is relatively easy to make meth is one of the reasons why this dangerous illicit drug has spread from California and the West to the rest of the nation.
Law enforcement officials have long believed that restricting the sale of these cold medicines used to make methamphetamine is critical to eliminating the deadly drug from our neighborhoods.
The “Combating Methamphetamine Epidemic Act” does just that. I sponsored this bill with Senator Jim Talent (R-Miss.) to require cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine to be placed behind the counter in stores across the country.
On September 30, 2006, the bill went into effect, becoming the toughest anti-meth legislation enacted in over a decade.
The Combating Methamphetamine Epidemic Act:
- Moves cold medicines with pseudoephedrine behind the counter;
- Requires signature and identification for purchases;
- Limits how much of such medicines one person can buy in a month to 9 grams (300, 30 mg pills);
- Limits how much one person can by in a day to 3.6 grams (120, 30 mg pills)
- Creates an exception for “single-use” sales, which are small amounts (2, 30 mg pills) of individually-packaged pseudoephedrine products;
- Creates a new category of controlled chemical, called “controlled precursor chemicals,” to ensure that pseudoephedrine is handled safely and lawfully;
- Creates a national meth treatment center;
- Authorizes $585 million for enforcement, training, and research into treatment:
- Drug Court Funding – Authorizes $70 million for FY 2006,
- Meth Hot Spots Grants – Authorizes $99 million for each 2006-2010, and
- Grants for endangered children – Authorizes $20 million for each of FY 2006-2007;
- Provides competitive grants for programs involving pregnant and parenting women offenders.
The legislation also contains criminal law provisions, which lower the amounts that qualify a big-time drug lord to be treated as a drug kingpin, and thus subject to enhanced penalties.
There is no question that this nation needs a comprehensive strategy on meth. We need to reduce demand for this drug by educating key groups about its dangers. We need to find ways to break meth addiction. And we need more funding for enforcement and prosecution, especially in high activity areas. Moving cold medicines behind the counter plays an integral role in bringing this epidemic under control.
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