The small time, one-pot meth producers have – in the past decade – learned ways to circumvent the laws by having multiple people with multiple fake identifications purchase the amounts of pseudoephedrine needed to fuel their meth labs. This is commonly called “smurfing,” and it has exploded. The problem has been that we had, until now, no scientifically reliable way to prevent the production of meth via pseudoephedrine. We were stuck.
We are no longer stuck. It is time that we catch up with these small-volume producers and shut them down. In 2014, we can – but DEA needs to know this is a congressional imperative. Science has now caught up with the problem. We have options now. The options vary, but science is now able to render pseudoephedrine products impractical for street producers of meth, and we can put today’s meth cooks out of business. As a nation, this should now represent an urgent, bipartisan priority. We have been bipartisan before, and we need to be again.