[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 641 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 641

    To amend the Controlled Substances Act to prevent the abuse of 
            dehydroepiandrosterone, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 19, 2009

 Mr. Grassley introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Controlled Substances Act to prevent the abuse of 
            dehydroepiandrosterone, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Dehydroepiandrosterone Abuse 
Reduction Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. DEHYDROEPIANDROSTERONE.

    (a) In General.--Part D of title II of the Controlled Substances 
Act (21 U.S.C. 841 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 424. CIVIL PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN DEHYDROEPIANDROSTERONE SALES.

    ``(a) In General.--
            ``(1) Sale.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph 
                (2), it shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly 
                sell, cause another to sell, or conspire to sell a 
                product containing dehydroepiandrosterone to an 
                individual under the age of 18 years, including any 
                such sale using the Internet.
                    ``(B) Failure to check identification.--If a person 
                fails to request identification from an individual 
                under the age of 18 years and sells a product 
                containing dehydroepiandrosterone to that individual, 
                that person shall be deemed to have known that the 
                individual was under the age of 18 years.
                    ``(C) Affirmative defense.--It shall be an 
                affirmative defense to an alleged violation of 
                subparagraph (A) that the person selling a product 
                containing dehydroepiandrosterone examined the 
                purchaser's identification and, based on that 
                examination, that person reasonably concluded that the 
                identification was valid and indicated that the 
                purchaser was not less than 18 years of age.
            ``(2) Exception.--This section shall not apply to any sale 
        made pursuant to a validly issued prescription.
    ``(b) Fines.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Attorney General may impose a civil 
        penalty on a person for violating subsection (a)(1)(A), 
        including a violation of that subsection committed by an 
        employee or agent of such person.
            ``(2) Maximum amount.--A civil penalty imposed under 
        paragraph (1) shall be--
                    ``(A) not more than $1,000 for the first violation 
                of subsection (a)(1)(A) by a person;
                    ``(B) not more than $2,000 for the second violation 
                of subsection (a)(1)(A) by a person; and
                    ``(C) not more than $5,000 for the third violation, 
                or a subsequent violation, of subsection (a)(1)(A) by a 
                person.
            ``(3) Number of violations.--If a person makes sales of 
        dehydroepiandrosterone at more than 1 location or 1 Internet 
        site, for purposes of determining the number of violations by 
        that person under this subsection each individual location or 
        Internet site operated by that person shall be considered a 
        separate person.
    ``(c) Definition of Identification Card.--In this section, the term 
`identification card' means an identification card that--
            ``(1) includes a photograph and the date of birth of the 
        individual;
            ``(2) is issued by a State or the Federal Government; and
            ``(3) is considered acceptable for purposes of sections 
        274a.2(b)(1)(v)(A) and 274a.2(b)(1)(v)(B)(1) of title 8, Code 
        of Federal Regulations (as in effect on or after the date of 
        the enactment of the Dehydroepiandrosterone Abuse Reduction Act 
        of 2009).''.
    (b) Regulations.--
            (1) Internet sales.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
        of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General of the United 
        States shall promulgate regulations for Internet sales of 
        products containing dehydroepiandrosterone to ensure compliance 
        with section 424 of the Controlled Substances Act, as added by 
        this Act.
            (2) Civil penalties.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the 
                date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General of 
                the United States shall promulgate regulations to carry 
                out section 424 of the Controlled Substances Act, as 
                added by this Act.
                    (B) Contents.--The regulations promulgated under 
                subparagraph (A) shall--
                            (i) provide for a range of fines for a 
                        retailer, based on whether the retailer or an 
                        employee or agent of that retailer has 
                        committed prior violations of section 424(a) of 
                        the Controlled Substances Act, as added by this 
                        Act; and
                            (ii) require consideration of whether a 
                        fine to be imposed on a retailer should be 
                        reduced or eliminated based on--
                                    (I) the establishment and 
                                administration of an effective employee 
                                training program by a retailer relating 
                                to this Act and the amendments made by 
                                this Act; or
                                    (II) other actions taken by a 
                                retailer to ensure compliance with this 
                                Act and the amendments made by this 
                                Act.
            (3) Definition of retailer.--In this subsection, the term 
        ``retailer'' means a grocery store, general merchandise store, 
        drug store, convenience store, or other entity or person whose 
        activities as a distributor relating to products containing 
        dehydroepiandrosterone are limited almost exclusively to sales 
        for personal use, both in number of sales and volume of sales, 
        either directly to walk-in customers or in face-to-face 
        transactions by direct sales.
    (c) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents for 
the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 (Public 
Law 91-513; 84 Stat. 1236) is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 423 the following:

``Sec. 424. Dehydroepiandrosterone sales.''.
    (d) Effect on State Law.--This section and the amendments made by 
this section shall supersede any provision of the law of any State 
relating to the sale of dehydroepiandrosterone.
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