Addressing Methamphetamine in the United States : A two part prescription to stop the methamphetamine epidemic

Methamphetamine abuse affects millions of Americans and is fueled by the diversion of the cold medicine pseudoephedrine internationally and within the United States. This paper seeks to evaluate the current regulatory system to prevent this diversion and proposes remedies to this system to end the threat of methamphetamines. This paper examines the international regime comprised of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The INCB controls are very broad but do not sufficiently protect against diversion while the DEA controls are very strong but are limited to imports into the United States. This paper advocates for a DEA styled system to be implemented internationally while recognizing obstacles to its implementation. This paper examines domestic regulatory controls, including electronic tracking, but advocates for a national law requiring a prescription to obtain pseudoephedrine.