A. The board may promulgate regulations and charge reasonable fees relating to the licensing and control of the manufacture, possession, transfer and transportation of drug precursors. The fees shall not be more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) per license for a wholesaler's license, a distributor's license or a manufacturer's license. The fees shall not be more than fifty dollars ($50.00) per license for a retail distributor's license, when the retail distributor has ten or more employees. The fees shall not be more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per license for a retail distributor's license, when the retail distributor has fewer than ten employees.

B. Every person who manufactures, possesses, transfers or transports any drug precursor or who proposes to engage in the manufacture, possession, transfer or transportation of any drug precursor shall obtain, annually, a license issued by the board.

C. Persons licensed by the board to manufacture, possess, transfer or transport drug precursors may manufacture, possess, transfer or transport those substances to the extent authorized by their license and in conformity with the other provisions of the Drug Precursor Act.

D. The following persons need not be licensed under the Drug Precursor Act and may lawfully possess drug precursors:

(1) physicians;

(2) an agent of any licensed manufacturer of any drug precursor if he is acting in the usual course of his principal's business or employment;

(3) an employee of a licensed common or contract carrier or licensed warehouseman whose possession of any drug precursor is in the usual course of the licensed common or contract carrier or licensed warehouseman's business;

(4) a student enrolled in a chemistry class for credit; provided, however, that the student's use of the drug precursor is for a bona fide educational purpose and that the chemistry department of the educational institution otherwise possesses all the necessary licenses required by the board;

(5) a consumer who uses a drug precursor for its intended purpose and who does not use the drug precursor to manufacture a substance controlled under the Controlled Substances Act [Chapter 30, Article 31 NMSA 1978];

(6) a pharmacy, an agent or employee of a pharmacy or a contractor for a pharmacy;

(7) a pharmacist, an agent or employee of a pharmacist or a contractor for a pharmacist; or

(8) an agent or employee of a licensed retail establishment or a contractor for a licensed retail establishment.

E. The board may waive by regulation the requirement for licensing of certain manufacturers if it is consistent with the public health and safety.

F. The board may inspect the establishment of a licensee or applicant for license in accordance with the board's regulations.

History: Laws 1989, ch. 177, § 6; 2004, ch. 9, § 4; 2004, ch. 12, § 4.

The 2004 amendment, effective July 1, 2004, designated the first paragraph of this section as Subsection A and redesignated former Subsections A through E as Subsections B through F; in Subsection A, provided a new $50.00 fee for a retail distributor's license; and in Subsection D, added new Pargraphs (5) through (8).

Laws 2004, ch. 9, § 4, effective July 1, 2004, enacted identical amendments to this section. The section was set out as amended by Laws 2004, ch. 12, § 4. See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.