[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 70 (Thursday, April 22, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2152-S2153]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        DISPOSE UNUSED MEDICATIONS AND PRESCRIPTION OPIOIDS ACT

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, you are aware, as we all are, of the 
scourge of opioid abuse in this country. It is horrible. It is 
terrible. We sometimes lose as many as 50,000 of our people a year.
  And as you also know, many people who become addicted to opioids 
don't necessarily buy the opioids on the street. They get the opioids 
from family and friends. So one of the best things you can do to try to 
stop the scourge of opioid abuse is to clear out your medicine cabinet 
so that people aren't tempted to use the drugs. Turn them in, if they 
have been prescribed to you, and you don't need them any longer.
  To make this easier, our DEA, as you know, Mr. President, holds 
pretty regularly what we call Take Back Days. On a Take Back Day, any 
person can go into his or her medicine cabinet, find drugs, including 
opioids, that they are not using anymore, that could be dangerous if 
abused, and they can take those unused medications and drop them off at 
a previously announced DEA drop site.
  Take Back Day is this Saturday, April 24. I want to encourage all 
Americans and Louisianans to do this. Go through your medicine cabinet. 
If you have opioids that have been prescribed to you--legally, of 
course--and you don't need them any longer, don't just leave them 
hanging around. Turn them in, please.
  But not every day is Take Back Day, and last year Congress, in its 
wisdom, passed a law, a very good law, instructing the Department of 
Veterans Affairs to ask--well, actually to require--VA medical centers 
to have these drop boxes permanently so that American veterans can 
throw away medications, including but not limited to opioids, that they 
don't need. And it has worked out really well.
  The question that occurred to me after we passed the bill was why 
limit that kind of access only to our veterans. So I have a bill to 
basically open up the Veterans Administration drop

[[Page S2153]]

boxes for unused drugs, including but not limited to opioids, at VA 
medical centers to anybody who wants to go get rid of these unused 
drugs at any time. You don't have to wait until Take Back Day. This 
would be a permanent program.
  The name of the bill is the Dispose Unused Medications and 
Prescription Opioids Act. And before I offer this bill up, let me just 
give one more plug. I would remind everyone that this Saturday, April 
24, is Take Back Day. If you have unused medications, including 
opioids, that you want to get rid of, it will have been publicized in 
your community by the DEA. You can go drop them off, and I hope people 
will do that.
  Mr. President, toward that end, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged from further consideration 
of my bill, S. 957, and the Senate proceed to its immediate 
consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 957) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
     to ensure that certain medical facilities of the Department 
     of Veterans Affairs have physical locations for the disposal 
     of controlled substances medications.

  There being no objection, the committee was discharged, and the 
Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I further ask that the Kennedy substitute 
amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, that the bill, as 
amended, be read a third time and passed, and that the motion to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no 
intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 1459) in the nature of a substitute was agreed to, 
as follows

                [Purpose: In the nature of a substitute]

        Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF PERIODS DURING WHICH ANY INDIVIDUAL 
                   MAY DISPOSE OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES 
                   MEDICATIONS AT FACILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 
                   VETERANS AFFAIRS.

       Section 3009 of the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. 
     Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 
     (Public Law 116-315; 38 U.S.C. 8110 note) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsection (b) and (c) as subsections 
     (c) and (d), respectively; and
       (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new 
     subsection (b):
       ``(b) Designation of Periods for Any Individual to Dispose 
     of Medication.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall designate periods 
     during which any individual may dispose of controlled 
     substances medications at a covered Department medical 
     facility.
       ``(2) Public information campaigns.--The Secretary may 
     carry out public information campaigns regarding the periods 
     designated under paragraph (1).''.

  The bill (S. 957), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a 
third reading, was read the third time, and passed.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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