Senate panel moves meth bill
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
The Senate Judiciary Committee approves legislation to prevent mass purchases of methamphetamine precursors by facilitating use of electronic logbooks in pharmacies through state and local government grants, according to bill co-sponsor Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. The Methamphetamine Production Prevention Act of 2007, S. 1276, aims to stop "smurfing" - buying nonprescription, pseudoephedrine-containing cold or allergy remedies in small quantities at multiple pharmacies - by making "electronic logbook systems far more cost-effective without hurting law enforcement efforts," Grassley says in a Sept. 11 release. The bill was introduced in May 2007 by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to add the electronic logbook provision omitted by 2006's Combat Meth Act (1"The Tan Sheet" May 7, 2007, p. 3). A companion bill, H.R. 2747, has not moved since being referred to a House Judiciary subcommittee in July 2007 (2"The Tan Sheet" June 25, 2007, In Brief). Several states, including Arkansas and Iowa, have introduced their own e-tracking systems (3"The Tan Sheet" June 9, 2008, In Brief)