[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 27, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4272-S4274]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. BIDEN:
S. 883. 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 a 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 in previous Congresses 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 spreads 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.
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Despite evidence of a growing Rohpynol epidemic, some argued that my
efforts to reschedule 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.
Sepcifically 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 [Rohpynol] through
administrative proceedings, DEA remains very concerned about the
abuse'' of the drug.
``Middle and high school students have been known to use [Rohpynol]
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 [Rohpynol] in the
commission of sexual assaults.''
``The number of sexual assaults in which [Rohpynol] 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 Rohpynol 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 authorities' ability to fight
ketamine abuse.
For example, in Federal 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 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 professions 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.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be printed in
the Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 883
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 ``New Drugs of the 1990's
Control Act''.
SEC. 2. ATTORNEY GENERAL AUTHORITY TO RESCHEDULE CERTAIN
DRUGS POSING IMMINENT DANGER TO PUBLIC SAFETY.
Section 201(h) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C.
811(h)) is amended--
(1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
``(1) If the Attorney General determines that the scheduling
of a substance, or the rescheduling of a scheduled
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substance, on a temporary basis is necessary to avoid an
imminent hazard to the public safety, the Attorney General
may, by order and without regard to the requirements of
subsection (b) relating to the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, schedule the substance--
``(A) in schedule I if no exemption or approval is in
effect for the substance under section 355; or
``(B) in schedule II if the substance is not listed in
schedule I;''; and
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by inserting ``or rescheduling'' after ``scheduling''
each place it appears; and
(B) by striking ``for up to six months'' and inserting
``until a final order becomes effective''.
SEC. 3. RESCHEDULING OF DATE-RAPE DRUG.
Notwithstanding section 201 or subsection (a) or (b) of
section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 811;
812(a); 812(b)) respecting the scheduling of controlled
substances, the Attorney General shall, by order, transfer
flunitrazepam from schedule IV of such Act to schedule I of
such Act.
SEC. 4. CLASSIFICATION OF THE ``CLUB'' DRUG ``SPECIAL K''.
Notwithstanding section 201 or subsection (a) or (b) of
section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 811;
812(a); 812(b)) respecting the scheduling of controlled
substances, the Attorney General shall, by order, add
ketamine hydrochloride to schedule III of such Act.
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