NEW STATE AND FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SELLING PSEUDOEPHEDRINE PRODUCTS!!!
 

STATE LAW

The 2005 Texas Legislature passed a bill that, effective August 1, 2005, requires pharmacies that engage in over-the-counter sales of tablet forms of products containing ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or norpseudoephedrine must keep those products behind the pharmacy counter or in a locked case within 30 feet and in a direct line of sight from a pharmacy counter staffed by an employee of the pharmacy.  The state law does not apply to liquid, liquid capsule, or liquid-gel capsule forms of the products. (Note: see more stringent federal requirements below). There are also new record-keeping requirements when selling one of these products.  Before completing the over-the-counter sale of a product containing ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or norpseudoephedrine, a pharmacy must require the person making the purchase to:

n   display a driver's license or other form of identification containing the person's photograph and indicating that the person is 16 years of age or older; and

n   sign for the purchase. 

The pharmacy must make a record of the sale including: 

n   the name of the person making the purchase;

n   the date of the purchase; and

n   the item and number of grams purchased.

The pharmacy must take actions necessary to prevent a person who makes over-the-counter purchases of one or more products containing ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or norpseudoephedrine from obtaining more than two packages of those products in a single transaction; or six grams of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, norpseudoephedrine, or a combination of those substances. (Note: see more stringent federal requirements below).

FEDERAL LAW

In early 2006, the US Congress passed the “Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005.”  This Act is similar to the Texas law, but has some provisions that are more stringent than the Texas law. Because these portions are more stringent, the provisions of the Federal Law supersede the Texas law. Some of the differences are as follows:

n   Effective April 8, 2006: 

§    Daily sales are limited to 3.6 Grams of the base product; and 

§    Monthly sales are limited to 9 Grams of the base product.  

n   Effective September 30, 2006, sales restrictions will apply to all dosage forms of the products, including liquids, liquid capsules, or liquid gel capsules; 
 

     §    Sellers must maintain a logbook, written or electronic, to record sales of products containing ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or phenylpropanolamine. The seller must enter into the logbook the name of the product, and quantity sold. The customer must write or enter into the logbook their name, address, date, and time of sale. The customer must also sign the logbook. You may not sell the product unless these requirements are met.
 

  §    Sellers, must be "self-certified" before selling these products and must comply with all provisions of the CMEA relating to employee training, product placement, photo identification of customers, sales logbooks, and other procedures listed in the law. DEA has provided detailed training instructions for use in explaining a sellers obligations on its website at   www.DEAdiversion.usdoj.gov.

§    More information about the federal law may be found on the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Web-site at the following link http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/meth/index.html