New rules affect sale of psuedoephedrine

Nevada's new law governing the sale of materials used in the manufacture of methamphetamine goes into effect on Wednesday.

The 2007 Nevada Legislature passed Assembly Bill 148 which restricts the sale of pharmaceuticals containing precursor materials used in the manufacture of methamphetamine and other controlled substances.

"The changes the Legislature made to the law make it harder for criminals to gain access to the amount of pseudoephedrines they would need to manufacture methamphetamine," said Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto.

Nevada's new law changes how many over-the-counter drugs, including psuedoephedrine, are sold. It also adds criminal penalties for certain activities related to the manufacture of methamphetamine.

"This new law gives local law enforcement more authority to go after those who are manufacturing methamphetamine in Nevada," Masto said. "It also brings our state up to standard with laws passed recently by the federal government. We've already seen a drop in the number of meth lab busts in Nevada since the federal laws went into effect. With the new state laws in place, we should be able to severely limit access to psuedoephedrines used by local illegal meth labs."

- Prohibits a person from: selling or transferring in the course of business a product that is a precursor to methamphetamine; or engaging in the business of selling at retail a product that is a precursor to methamphetamine, unless the person is a pharmacy.

- Requires sellers of a product that contains certain materials that can be used to manufacture methamphetamine to keep the product in a locked case or cabinet or behind a store counter so that the public does not have direct access to the product. A pharmacy which violates these provisions is subject to a penalty of not more than $250,000 for each violation.

- Establishes limits on the quantity of certain chemicals that can be sold to the same person during a calendar day.

- Requires sellers of a product that contains materials that can be used to manufacture methamphetamine to maintain a logbook of sales and transfers of the product and to ensure that certain information is entered in the logbook. Any person who knowingly enters a false statement in a logbook is guilty of a category D felony.

- Requires a pharmacy that becomes aware of any unusual or excessive loss or disappearance of a product that is a precursor to methamphetamine to report the loss or disappearance to the Department of Public Safety.

- Prohibits the possession or disposition of chemical waste or debris resulting from the manufacture of methamphetamine. Violators are subject to a category C felony. Existing law prohibits a person from possessing certain chemicals with the intent to manufacture or compound a controlled substance other than marijuana. This bill adds lithium metal and sodium metal to the list of controlled chemicals.

- Provides that a building or place that was used to unlawfully manufacture a controlled substance is both a private and public nuisance if certain activities relating to the decontamination of the building or place have not occurred within a certain period.

- Provides that a person commits first degree arson if, by knowingly engaging in the manufacture of methamphetamine, the person sets fire to or causes an explosion that damages a dwelling house or personal property that is occupied by one or more persons.