[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 22, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H6855-H6857]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     SAFE DRUG DISPOSAL ACT OF 2010

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 5809) to amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide for 
take-back disposal of controlled substances in certain instances, and 
for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5809

       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 ``Safe Drug Disposal Act of 
     2010''.

     SEC. 2. 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 receive and dispose of the 
     controlled substance; and
       ``(B) the delivery and disposal takes place in accordance 
     with regulations issued by the Attorney General to prevent 
     diversion of controlled substances.

     The regulations referred to in subparagraph (B) shall be 
     consistent with the public health and safety. In developing 
     such regulations, the Attorney General shall take into 
     consideration 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) The Attorney General shall, by regulation, authorize 
     long-term care facilities, as defined by the Attorney General 
     by regulation, to deliver for disposal controlled substances 
     on behalf of ultimate users in a manner that the Attorney 
     General determines will provide effective controls against 
     diversion and be consistent with the public health and 
     safety.
       ``(3) 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, long-term care facility, or 
     other person acting in accordance with section 302(g).''.

     SEC. 3. PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN.

       The Director of National Drug Control Policy, in 
     consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental 
     Protection Agency, shall carry out a public education and 
     outreach campaign to increase awareness of how ultimate users 
     may lawfully and safely dispose of prescription drugs, 
     including controlled substances, through drug take-back 
     programs and other appropriate means.

     SEC. 4. GAO REPORT.

       The Comptroller General of the United States shall--
       (1) collect data on the delivery, transfer, and disposal of 
     controlled substances under section 302(g) of the Controlled 
     Substances Act, as added by section 2; and
       (2) not later than 4 years after the date of the enactment 
     of this Act, submit findings and recommendations to the 
     Congress regarding use, effectiveness, and accessibility of 
     disposal programs.

     SEC. 5. EPA STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS.

       (a) Study.--The Administrator of the Environmental 
     Protection Agency (in this section referred to as the 
     ``Administrator'') shall--
       (1) in consultation with relevant State and local officials 
     and other sources of relevant technical expertise, conduct a 
     study to--
       (A) examine the environmental impacts resulting from the 
     ultimate disposal of controlled substances through existing 
     methods;
       (B) taking into consideration such impacts, and the ease 
     and cost of implementation of drug take-back programs and 
     participation in such programs by various communities, 
     formulate appropriate recommendations on the destruction or 
     ultimate disposal of prescription drugs, including controlled 
     substances; and
       (C) identify additional authority needed to carry out such 
     recommendations if the Administrator determines that the 
     Administrator's existing legal authorities are insufficient 
     to implement such recommendations; and
       (2) not later than 18 months after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, submit a report to the Congress on the 
     results of such study.
       (b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
     construed to affect the Administrator's authority under other 
     provisions of law.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Pallone) and the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Whitfield) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.


                             General Leave

  Mr. PALLONE. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 
legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material in the Record.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to one 
of the sponsors of our legislation, a member of the Energy and Commerce 
Committee, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee).
  Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, we have a good bill here, a bipartisan bill, 
to help us move forward to reduce the rate of abuse of prescription 
drugs.
  Three years ago, local agencies and community leaders came to my 
office and told us we had this problem because prescription drug 
overdoses are rising rapidly, and there is really no way to dispose of 
legitimate prescription drugs in a legal, easy-to-use fashion under our 
current laws.
  So for 3 years now we have been working in a bipartisan fashion to 
come up with a solution, and I am very happy to say that with the 
strong support of 55 national and regional organizations and the 
leadership of Chairman Waxman and Representatives Stupak, Moran and 
Smith, we have found a solution that does protect the public and the 
environment from harmful drugs.
  You know, prescription drug abuse really is a growing epidemic. Back 
in my home State of Washington prescription drug overdoses have now 
surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of accidental death for 
people ages 35 to 54. Washington has the sixth highest rate in the 
Nation of prescription drug abuse among 12-to 17-year-olds; and, 
unfortunately, today's medicine cabinets have become tomorrow's drug 
dealers' storage sites.

                              {time}  1750

  Kids are abusing leftover prescription drugs and getting addicted or, 
in the worst cases, dying. Just yesterday, nine middle school children 
in Bremerton, Washington, were hospitalized after popping prescription 
pills that one student brought to school from home.
  So in Washington State, local agencies and community groups like 
Group Health and Bartell Drugs have tackled this problem head-on and 
have developed successful pilot safe drug disposal programs. These 
brick and mortar drop-off locations and mail-back programs give 
communities of all sizes an

[[Page H6856]]

easy disposable system to dispose of unneeded drugs. But these programs 
have gone as far as they can, and right now they face the legal walls 
to grow these programs to make them more effective and easier for our 
communities to use.
  So, we now have a commonsense solution, which is this bill, and we 
need to make sure these programs are put in place for all prescription 
drugs to keep these powerful substances off the streets and out of our 
drinking water. This legislation will solve those problems.
  I want to note one success of this bill. Bart Stupak and others have 
been really great leaders in designing a program that would be flexible 
and easy for communities to use. We wanted to make sure that we got 
communities to design their programs so that they would have a multiple 
suite of different systems to use on how to run these programs. I want 
to congratulate Bart and others in helping us fashion this.
  And with that, I urge our support for H.R. 5809.
  Mr. WHITFIELD. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise also in support of the Safe Drug Disposal Act, 
and certainly I want to thank Mr. Inslee for his leadership and Mr. 
Moran, Mr. Pallone, and many others.
  Two months ago, I was invited by Sheriff Carter of Allen County, 
Kentucky, to a meeting of concerned citizens in that little community, 
and what they wanted to talk about was prescription drug abuse. And not 
only is it a problem in Washington State; it's a problem in Kentucky, 
and it's a problem throughout this entire country.
  We are fortunate that many pharmacies, States, and localities have 
established prescription drug take-back programs; but, unfortunately, 
they are unable to take back controlled substances due to a technical 
reading of the Controlled Substances Act. This legislation will correct 
that and will allow a take-back program to also apply to controlled 
substances. And by passing this legislation, these programs will help 
further reduce the likelihood of prescription drugs being diverted to 
those to whom they were not prescribed.
  I'm delighted that we are bringing this legislation to the floor, and 
I look forward to its passage and would urge all of our Members to vote 
for it.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my 
friend from Virginia (Mr. Moran).
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from New 
Jersey for yielding me the time, as well as his friendship, as well as 
the distinguished gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Whitfield). And I want 
to recognize Mr. Inslee for introducing this legislation.
  We share a deep concern about the use of medications which are not 
being safely returned to drug stores because of regulatory 
difficulties. In many cases, you have to have a police officer there 
overseeing the return of the drugs.
  This will get over those restrictions and allow a process to happen 
which is terribly important, because we should all know that drug abuse 
is not limited to street corner illegal drug purchases, that, in fact, 
the abuse of prescription drugs is a large part of America's drug 
problem, particularly among young people. One study has shown that, in 
the last decade, nonmedical use of prescription drugs increased by 
almost 100 percent; and among adolescents between the ages of 12 and 
17, it increased by more than 200 percent.
  Too many of our young people are raiding the family medicine cabinet 
to obtain prescription drugs like OxyContin, Ritalin, and Valium. And, 
of course, it doesn't just affect those individuals, and it's not 
harmless. It clearly is leading to an increase in criminal behavior.
  We find that about 600,000 emergency department visits over a year 
involved the nonmedical use of prescription or over-the-counter drugs 
or dietary supplements. It's a substantial increase year after year. 
About one-third of the visits result in hospital admissions. In fact, 
1,365 of those emergency visits have resulted in the death of the 
patient, oftentimes young people. And that's where we see the biggest 
problem--fatalities in children 13 to 19 years of age.
  So this will allow local communities to create drug disposal 
programs. As Mr. Inslee and Mr. Whitfield had mentioned, it gives 
consumers a safe way to dispose of unneeded pharmaceuticals, including 
controlled substances. A number of the most responsible pharmacies have 
asked for this. The pharmacists say they want to be constructive in 
this process and prevent this illegal and oftentimes fatal use of 
prescription drugs on the part of young children.
  This is a very important piece of legislation. It will save lives. 
It's the right thing to do.
  I just want to mention one other thing that involves our Interior and 
Environment Appropriations Subcommittee. We are finding that one of the 
things that is leading to very serious problems with water quality is 
the fact that prescription medications are winding up in our water 
supply because our sewage treatment centers don't have the ability to 
screen them out, so they go right into the water supply that leads to 
drinking water. And we think that that is a source of some of the 
problems we find with endocrine-disrupting chemicals that block or 
mimic natural hormones. And we see that in a number of fish, 
particularly the fish in the Potomac River. This is one of the 
problems.
  So we are addressing a number of issues with this legislation. I 
trust that it will be passed unanimously, and maybe even by the Senate, 
which would be phenomenal. So, Mr. Speaker, we thank all those who 
cosponsored this, and let's hope it becomes law very quickly.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, Americans are abusing prescription 
drugs at alarming rates and a major source for this abuse is the unused 
or expired drugs in our medicine cabinets, nursing homes, and 
hospitals. Prescription drugs are now surpassing most illegal drugs as 
the drug of choice for abusers across America.
  The Office of National Drug Control Policy reports that 
``prescription drugs account for the second most commonly abused 
category of drugs, behind marijuana, and ahead of cocaine, heroin, 
methamphetamine, and other drugs.''
  The most commonly abused prescription drugs are opioid painkillers, 
such as Oxycontin and Percocet and morphine. Accidental deaths caused 
by the abuse of such opioid painkillers now outnumber deaths caused by 
the use of cocaine and heroin.
  Today, an estimated seven million Americans abuse prescription drugs. 
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that the non-medical 
use of prescription drugs increased by 12 percent in 2009. Pain killers 
and other highly addictive prescription drugs have become increasingly 
popular with America's teenagers.
  The Centers for Disease Control reports that 20 percent of teens have 
admitted to taking prescription drugs without a prescription. 
Unfortunately, many teens believe these drugs, because they are 
available by prescription, are less dangerous than illegal drugs. 
Sadly, this can often be a deadly misconception.
  And a major source of prescription drugs is leftover, unused and 
expired drugs in our own homes and healthcare facilities. The Justice 
Department reports that prescription drug abuse is most prevalent among 
18- to 25-year-olds, and most of these drugs are acquired for free from 
family and friends.
  The solution is safe and accessible drug disposal. Law enforcement 
agencies and pharmacies across the country are now sponsoring drug 
disposal or ``take-back'' programs to collect unused and expired 
prescription drugs.
  But these programs are at the mercy of a loophole in federal law that 
prevents individuals from legally disposing of controlled prescription 
drugs. The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 
or ``CSA'' utilizes a registration system for the distribution of 
controlled substances.
  Individuals are exempted from the registration requirement in order 
to receive a prescription from their doctor to fill at their local 
pharmacy. But the CSA does not authorize individuals to dispose of 
their unused or expired drugs to a ``take-back'' program.
  H.R. 5809, the Safe Drug Disposal Act, introduced by Mr. Inslee, Mr. 
Stupak, and myself, corrects this anomaly in the law. Once this bill is 
enacted, patients and long-term care facilities will be able to legally 
dispose of their controlled prescription drugs.
  H.R. 5809 establishes a public education campaign within the Office 
of National Drug Control Policy to increase awareness of the 
availability of drug take-back programs in their communities. The bill 
also directs the General Accountability Office to study the 
availability and effectiveness of drug disposal programs.

[[Page H6857]]

  Finally, the bill directs the Environmental Protection Agency to 
study the environmental impacts of the disposal of prescription drugs.
  It is imperative that Congress provide for the safe disposal of these 
highly-addictive and dangerous drugs. Without this change to our 
federal drug laws, prescription pain killers and sedatives will linger 
in medicine cabinets across the country, easily accessible to teenagers 
wishing to experiment or adults who become dependent.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation.
  Millions of Americans are prescribed narcotics for postoperative 
pain, bone fractures, and other ailments each year. However, most 
patients do not consume all the prescriptions they are prescribed.
  These drugs remain in drug cabinets for years, easily accessible to 
teens wishing to experiment with drugs.
  The Controlled Substances Act regulates prescription narcotics 
through a registration system. However, the Controlled Substance Act 
currently exempts patients from this registration requirement.
  H.R. 5809 allows individuals to dispose of unused prescription 
controlled substances to a recipient authorized by the DEA. The bill 
also authorizes the Attorney General to promulgate regulations for the 
lawful disposal of prescription controlled substances by a long-term 
care facility.
  H.R. 5809 also clarifies that the DEA regulations set forth in this 
legislation may not require any entity to establish a drug take-back 
program.
  I want to thank my friend and colleagues, Jay Inslee, Lamar Smith and 
other colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their hard work and 
commitment to empowering patients to help prevent prescription drug 
abuse, especially amongst our youth.
  I urge my colleagues to vote in support of the legislation.
  Mr. WHITFIELD. I urge passage of this bill, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5809, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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