[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 116 (Tuesday, August 3, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6666-S6667]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SECURE AND RESPONSIBLE DRUG DISPOSAL ACT OF 2010
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to
the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 495, S. 3397.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 3397) to amend the Controlled Substances Act to
provide for take-back disposal of controlled substances in
certain instances, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill,
which had been reported from the Committee on the Judiciary, with
amendments, as follows:
[Omit the part in boldface brackets and insert the part printed in
italic.]
S. 3397
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 ``Secure and Responsible Drug
Disposal Act of 2010''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The nonmedical use of prescription drugs is a growing
problem in the United States, particularly among teenagers.
(2) According to the Department of Justice's 2009 National
Prescription Drug Threat Assessment--
(A) the number of deaths and treatment admissions for
controlled prescription drugs (CPDs) has increased
significantly in recent years;
(B) unintentional overdose deaths involving prescription
opioids, for example, increased 114 percent from 2001 to
2005, and the number of treatment admissions for prescription
opioids increased 74 percent from 2002 to 2006; and
(C) violent crime and property crime associated with abuse
and diversion of CPDs has increased in all regions of the
United States over the past 5 years.
(3) According to the Office of National Drug Control
Policy's 2008 Report ``Prescription for Danger'',
prescription drug abuse is especially on the rise for teens--
(A) one-third of all new abusers of prescription drugs in
2006 were 12- to 17-year-olds;
(B) teens abuse prescription drugs more than any illicit
drug except marijuana--more than cocaine, heroin, and
methamphetamine combined; and
(C) responsible adults are in a unique position to reduce
teen access to prescription drugs because the drugs often are
found in the home.
(4)(A) Many State and local law enforcement agencies have
established drug disposal programs (often called ``take-
back'' programs) to facilitate the collection and destruction
of unused, unwanted, or expired medications. These programs
help get outdated or unused medications off household shelves
and out of the reach of children and teenagers.
(B) However, take-back programs often cannot dispose of the
most dangerous pharmaceutical drugs--controlled substance
medications--because Federal law does not permit take-back
programs to accept controlled substances unless they get
specific permission from the Drug Enforcement Administration
and arrange for full-time law enforcement officers to receive
the controlled substances directly from the member of the
public who seeks to dispose of them.
(C) Individuals seeking to reduce the amount of unwanted
controlled substances in their household consequently have
few disposal options beyond discarding or flushing the
substances, which may not be appropriate means of disposing
of the substances.
(D) Long-term care facilities face a distinct set of
obstacles to the safe disposal of controlled substances due
to the increased volume of controlled substances they handle.
(5) This Act gives the Attorney General authority to
promulgate new regulations, within the framework of the
Controlled Substances Act, that will allow patients to
deliver unused pharmaceutical controlled substances to
appropriate entities for disposal in a safe and effective
manner consistent with effective controls against diversion.
(6) The goal of this Act is to encourage the Attorney
General to set controlled substance diversion prevention
parameters that will allow public and private entities to
develop a variety of methods of collection and disposal of
controlled substances in a secure and responsible manner.
[[Page S6667]]
SEC. 3. DELIVERY OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES BY ULTIMATE USERS
FOR DISPOSAL.
(a) Regulatory Authority.--Section 302 of the Controlled
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 822) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``(g)(1) An ultimate user who has lawfully obtained a
controlled substance in accordance with this title may,
without being registered, deliver the controlled substance to
another person for the purpose of disposal of the controlled
substance if--
``(A) the person receiving the controlled substance is
authorized under this title to engage in such activity; and
``(B) the disposal takes place in accordance with
regulations issued by the Attorney General to prevent
diversion of controlled substances.
``(2) In developing regulations under this subsection, the
Attorney General shall take into consideration the public
health and safety, as well as the ease and cost of program
implementation and participation by various communities. Such
regulations may not require any entity to establish or
operate a delivery or disposal program.
``[(2)](3) The Attorney General may, by regulation,
authorize long-term care facilities, as defined by the
Attorney General by regulation, to dispose of controlled
substances on behalf of ultimate users who reside, or have
resided, at such long-term care facilities in a manner that
the Attorney General determines will provide effective
controls against diversion and be consistent with the public
health and safety.
``(4) If a person dies while lawfully in possession of a
controlled substance for personal use, any person lawfully
entitled to dispose of the decedent's property may deliver
the controlled substance to another person for the purpose of
disposal under the same conditions as provided in paragraph
(1) for an ultimate user.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 308(b) of the Controlled
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 828(b)) is amended--
(1) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (2) and
inserting ``; or''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) the delivery of such a substance for the purpose of
disposal by an ultimate user or long-term care facility
acting in accordance with section 302(g) of this title.''.
SEC. 4. DIRECTIVE TO THE UNITED STATES SENTENCING COMMISSION.
Pursuant to its authority under section 994 of title 28,
United States Code, the United States Sentencing Commission
shall review and, if appropriate, amend the Federal
sentencing guidelines and policy statements to ensure that
the guidelines and policy statements provide an appropriate
penalty increase of up to 2 offense levels above the sentence
otherwise applicable in Part D of the Guidelines Manual if a
person is convicted of a drug offense resulting from the
authorization of that person to receive scheduled substances
from an ultimate user or long-term care facility as set forth
in the amendments made by section 3.
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
committee-reported amendments be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be
read a third time and passed; the motions to reconsider be laid upon
the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements
related to the bill be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The Committee amendments were agreed to.
The bill (S. 3397), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a
third reading, was read the third time, and passed.
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