The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an effort by Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to reinstate criminal penalties for people with methamphetamine-related convictions who are caught purchasing cold medicines that contain pseudoephedrine.
The state methamphetamine registry remains in place and prevents people with meth convictions from purchasing pseudoephedrine-based products on a daily basis, said Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control spokesman Mark Woodward.
However, the 2012 Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals case of Angela Wolf blocked state prosecutions of people who are subject to the registry but manage to purchase the medicines.
Pseudoephedrine is a legal cold and allergy medication, but it also is a key ingredient in the illegal production of methamphetamine, a dangerous, illegal drug.
In 2010, the state created the registry to prevent people with meth convictions from purchasing pseudoephedrine products. Although the law provided for district court clerks to notify the state of new convictions that would make people subject to the registry's rules, it did not provide for listing people with previous convictions who would also be subject to the law.
It also didn't provide for notifying people who were subject to the law that they would be breaking the law if they purchased pseudoephedrine products.
The Court of Criminal Appeals decision found that people who are subject to the meth registry can't be prosecuted for purchasing pseudoephedrine if they don't know that they would be violating the law.
Wolf had pleaded guilty to five counts of unlawful purchase of pseudoephedrine while subject to the methamphetamine registry law but asked to withdraw her plea, arguing that she didn't know she was breaking the law when she made her purchase. The Oklahoma court sided with her and ordered her conviction dismissed.
"Wolf was not wholly passive - she bought pseudoephedrine," the Oklahoma court found. "However, as far as Wolf knew this was a lawful act.
"The mere purchase of pseudoephedrine is not a crime, unless one is subject to (the registry law). The wrongdoing was created by Wolf's status as a person subject to the statute. The uncontested record shows Wolf was completely unaware that she was subject to (the law)."
Because she didn't know about the law, the conviction was a violation of her due process rights, the Oklahoma court found.
Wolf was convicted of unlawful possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute in 2004, state prison records show.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined without comment to take up the Oklahoma case.
Woodward said a law passed by the Oklahoma Legislature this year should solve the problem for the future. The new law, which goes into effect Nov. 1, will require people purchasing pseudoephedrine-based products to sign an acknowledgment that they know that they are subject to prosecution if they are subject to the meth registry.
Wayne Greene 918-581-8308
wayne.greene@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: High court declines case on Oklahoma meth law
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