Methamphetamine Precursors: Congress amends CSA to allow electronic tracking of retail sales of pseudoephedrine products

President Bush signed S. 1276 – the Methamphetamine Production Improvement Act of 2008 – into law (PL 110-415) on October 14. The Act modifies the Controlled Substances Act to specify how electronic as well as paper logbooks may be maintained for retail sales of covered OTC products containing methamphetamine precursors (i.e., pseudoephedrine). The law allows retailers to use one of the following options to maintain the required logbook:

• Written logbook in which purchaser enters his or her signature, name, address, and the date and time of sale and the seller enters the name and quantity of product sold.
• An electronic logbook in which the purchaser’s signature is captured in one of the following ways.
  • By a device that captures signatures in an electronic format. The device must display the required notice of penalties, and clearly links the signature to other electronically-captured required information relating to the sale.
  • Signing a bound paper book to which the seller affixes a printed sticker displaying the required information regarding the sale, or a unique identifier linked to that information; or in which the seller writes the unique identifier and the purchaser signs an adjacent line. The bound book must display the required penalty notices.
  • Signing a printed document produced by the seller at the time of sale that displays the required penalty notices and the required information related to the sale. The signed page is immediately placed into a binder or other secure means of document storage.
• Product information may be captured through electronic means including barcode reader technology.
• The penalty warnings are amended to require "a notice to purchasers that entering false statements or misrepresentations in the logbook, or supplying false information or identification that results in the entry of false statements or misrepresentations, may subject the purchasers to criminal penalties under section 1001 of title 18, United States Code, which notice specifies the maximum fine and term of imprisonment under such section."

[PL 110-415; Controlled Substances Act § 310(e)(1)(A); 21 USC 830(e)(1)(A)(iv)-(vi)]