[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 51 (Thursday, April 30, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3931-S3932]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BIDEN:
  S. 2014. A bill to authorize the Attorney General to reschedule 
certain drugs that pose an imminent danger to public safety, and to 
provide for the rescheduling of the date-rape drug and the 
classification of certain ``club'' drug; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.


                 THE NEW DRUGS OF THE 1990s CONTROL ACT

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, the best time to target a new drug with 
uncompromising enforcement pressure is before abuse of that drug has 
overwhelmed our communities.
  That is why I introduced legislation last Congress to place tight 
federal controls on the date rape drug Rohpynol--also known as 
Roofies--which was becoming known as the Quaalude of the Nineties as 
its popularity spread throughout the United States.
  My bill would have shifted Rohpynol to schedule 1 of the Federal 
Controlled Substances Act. Rescheduling is important for three simple 
reasons:
  First, Federal re-scheduling triggers increases in State drug law 
penalties, and since we all know that more than 95 percent of all drug 
cases are prosecuted at the State level, not by the Federal Government, 
it is vitally important that we re-schedule.
  Second, Federal re-scheduling to schedule 1 triggers the toughest 
Federal penalties--up to a year in prison and at least a $1,000 fine 
for a first offense of simple possession.
  And, third, re-scheduling has proven to work. In 1984, I worked to 
reschedule Quaaludes, Congress passed the law, and the Quaalude 
epidemic was greatly reduced. And, in 1990, I worked to re-schedule 
steroids, Congress passed the law, and again a drug epidemic that had 
been on the rise was reversed.
  Despite evidence of a growing Rohpynol epidemic, some argued that my 
efforts to re-schedule the drug by legislation were premature. 
Accordingly, I agreed to hold off on legislative action and wait for a 
Drug Enforcement Administration decision on whether to schedule the 
drug through the lengthy and cumbersome administrative process.
  As I predicted, the DEA report on Rohpynol--handed down in November--
correctly concludes that despite the rapid spread of Rohpynol 
throughout the country, DEA cannot re-schedule Rohpynol by rulemaking 
at this time.
  The report notes, however, that Congress is not bound by the 
bureaucratic re-scheduling process the DEA must follow. Congress can--
and in my view should--pass legislation to reschedule Rohpynol.
  Specifically the report states: ``This inability to reschedule 
[Rohpynol] administratively . . . does not affect Congress' ability to 
place [the drug] in schedule 1 through the legislative process''--as we 
did with Quaaludes in 1984 and Anabolic Steroids in 1990.
  Let me also note that the DEA report confirmed a number of facts 
about the extent of the Rohpynol problem:
  DEA found more than 4,000 documented cases--in 36 States--of sale or 
possession of the drug, which is not marketed in the United States and 
must be smuggled in.
  ``In spite of DEA's inability to reschedule [Rohypnol] through 
administrative proceedings, DEA remains very concerned about the 
abuse'' of the drug.
  ``Middle and high school students have been known to use [Rohypnol] 
as an alternative to alcohol to achieve an intoxicated state during 
school hours. [The drug] is much more difficult to detect than alcohol, 
which produces a characteristic odor.''
  ``DEA is extremely concerned about the use of [Rohypnol] in the 
commission of sexual assaults.''
  ``The number of sexual assaults in which [Rohypnol] is used may be 
underreported''--because the drug's effects often cause rape victims to 
be unable to remember details of their assaults and because rape crisis 
centers, hospitals, and law enforcement have only recently become aware 
that Rohypnol can be used to facilitate sex crimes.
  Nonetheless, ``DEA is aware of at least 5 individuals who have been 
convicted of rape in which the evidence suggests that [the Rohypnol 
drug] was used to incapacitate the victim.'' ``The actual number of 
sexual assault cases involving [the drug] is not known. It is difficult 
to obtain evidence that [the Rohypnol drug] was used in an assault.''
  I would also note that my efforts to re-schedule this drug have 
already had beneficial results: The manufacturer of Rohypnol recently 
announced that it had developed a new formula to minimize the potential 
for abuse of the drug in sexual assaults.
  This is an important step. But pills produced under the old Rohypnol 
formula are still in circulation, and pills made by other manufacturers 
can still be smuggled in. Furthermore, the new formula will not prevent 
kids from continuing to ingest this dangerous drug voluntarily for a 
cheap high.
  In short, stricter, Federal controls remain necessary; and DEA is 
powerless to respond to Rohypnol abuse until the problem gets even 
worse.
  Therefore, I am reintroducing my bill to re-schedule Rohypnol in 
schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act. I urge my colleagues to 
support this effort to take action against this dangerous drug now, 
rather than waiting for the problem to develop into an epidemic.
  My bill also places ``Special K''--ketamine hydrochloride--a 
dangerous hallucinogen very similar to PCP, on schedule III of the 
Controlled Substances Act. Despite Special K's rising popularity as a 
``club drug'' of choice among kids, the drug is not even illegal in 
most States. This has crippled State

[[Page S3932]]

authorities' ability to fight ketamine abuse.
  For example, in February 1997, two men accused of stealing ketamine 
from a Ville Platte, Louisiana veterinary clinic and cooking the drug 
into a powder could not be prosecuted under State drug control laws 
because ketamine is not listed as a Federal controlled substance.
  Similarly, a New Jersey youth recently found to be with possessing 
and distributing ketamine could be charged with only a disorderly 
persons offense.
  Prosecutors are trying to combat increased Ketamine use by seeking 
lengthy prison terms for possession of the drugs--like marijuana--that 
users mix with Ketamine, but if it is just Special K, there's nothing 
they can do about it.
  I am convinced that scheduling Ketamine will help our effort to fight 
the spread of this dangerous drug by triggering increases in State drug 
law penalties.
  Without Federal scheduling, many States will not be able to address 
the Ketamine problem until it is too late and Special K has already 
infiltrated their communities.
  Medical professionals who use Ketamine--including the American 
Veterinary Medical Association and the American Association of Nurse 
Anesthetists--support scheduling, having determined that it will 
accomplish our goal of ``preventing the diversion and unauthorized use 
of Ketamine'' while allowing ``continued, responsible use'' of the drug 
for legitimate purposes. [Letter from Mary Beth Leininger, D.V.M., 
President of the American Veterinary Medical Association]
  And the largest manufacturer of Ketamine has concluded that ``moving 
the product to schedule III classification is in the best interest of 
the veterinary industry and the public.'' [Letter from E. Thomas 
Corcoran, President of Fort Dodge Animal Health, a Division of American 
Home Products Corporation].
  Scheduling Ketamine will give State authorities the tools they 
desperately need to fight its abuse by young people--and end the legal 
anomaly that leaves those who sell Ketamine to our children beyond the 
reach of the law--even when they are caught ``red-handed''. I urge my 
colleagues to support this legislation.
  In addition to raising controls on Rohypnol and Ketamine, the 
legislation I am introducing today would increase the ability of the 
Attorney General to respond to new drug emergencies in the future.
  Our Federal drug control laws currently allow the Attorney General 
limited authority to respond to certain new drugs on an emergency 
basis--by temporarily subjecting them the strictest Federal control 
while the extensive administrative procedure for permanent scheduling 
proceeds.
  But the Attorney General has not been able to use this authority to 
respond to the Rohypnol and Special K emergencies--because she does not 
have authority to--move drugs from one schedule to another, or to 
schedule drugs that the Food and Drug Administration has allowed 
companies to research but not to sell.
  This amendment would grant the administration this important 
authority by--authorizing the Attorney General to move a scheduled 
drug--like Rohypnol--to schedule I in an Emergency; by applying 
emergency rescheduling authority to ``investigational new drugs''--like 
Special K--that the Food and Drug Administration has approved for 
research purposes only, but not for marketing.
  And by providing that a rescheduling drug remains on the temporary 
schedule until the administrative proceedings reach a final conclusion 
on whether to schedule.
  This legislation would give the Attorney General the necessary tools 
to respond quickly when evidence appears that a drug is being abused. I 
urge my colleagues to support the bill.
                                 ______