[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.

                          ____________________