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Washington News: New Rules for Sale of Ephedrine, Pseudoephedrine, and Phenylpropanolamine
Published in the January 2006 Washington State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter
On May 11, 2005, the legislature passed Engrossed Subsitute House Bill 2266. This bill requires the Washington State Board of Pharmacy to enact rules to restrict access to products containing ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine. The restrictions are to reduce the availability of these products for the manufacturing of methamphetamine while maintaining access for legitimate purposes.
At the November 2, 2005 Board of Pharmacy meeting Washington Administrative Codes (WAC) 246-889-070 through 246-889-110 were adopted. These rules require retail sales logs for ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine products.
These rules went into effect January 1, 2006.
As of October 1, 2005, certain ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or phenylpropanolamine products must be kept in a central area only accessible to employees. A seller must view photo identification (ID) containing the birth date of the purchaser and only sell to those 18 years or older.
As of January 1, 2006, additional requirements are necessary. The valid photo ID must match the ID allowed by the Washington State Liquor Control Board (Revised Code of Washington 66.16.040 at www.leg.wa.gov/RCW/index.cfm?section=66.16.040&fuseaction=section), which includes name, address, date of birth, and signature. The seller must record on a log the date of purchase, name of the purchaser, date of birth of the purchaser, address of purchaser, type of ID and agency issuing, ID number, number of packages, and number of tablets per package, and purchaser’s signature. This log must be kept for two years.
The log must be available for inspection by the Board of Pharmacy or state and local law enforcement. The sales limit decreases from three packages to two packages (3-gram limit per package).
Combination liquids, liquid capsules, and gel capsules are not subject to the log requirements and may be kept where customers can access them. A product sold by a valid prescription or a sale recorded in a pharmacy profile are not required to be recorded in the sales transaction log. The pharmacy profile must contain the individualized information about the purchaser.
At press time there was also federal legislation that might pass. While similar to the state law and rules, there may be differences. Please watch for news releases. The Board of Pharmacy will post updated information on its Web site, https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/
hpqa1/HPS4/Pharmacy/default.htm. Click on “What’s New.”
Note: The changes noted in this article were made by the Washington State Board of Pharmacy to illustrate the changes adopted in the regulations after the release of this Newsletter.
