Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act CDTA

Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act (CDTA) of 1988 is designed to prevent the diversion of chemicals to illegal drug producers. 

In the late 1980s, drug traffickers and clandestine laboratory operators began to purchase bulk ephedrine powder to make methamphetamine. The government responded in 1988 and passed the Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act (CDTA) to control the import, export, and distribution of bulk ephedrine powder. The drug traffickers then turned to ephedrine tablets to make... 

In response to the widespread clandestine synthesis of methamphetamine by this method, the DBA added P2P to Schedule II of the controlled substances list as part of the Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act (CDTA) of 1988. The legislation was aimed at impeding clandestine laboratories by cutting off the necessary precursors for methamphetamine as well as other drugs. The act also placed controls on some of the equipment needed for making drugs. For a few years, the number of methamphetamine laboratories that were seized decreased, but the decrease was short lived. Clandestine operations... 

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