[111th Congress Public Law 273]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]



[[Page 2857]]

            SECURE AND RESPONSIBLE DRUG DISPOSAL ACT OF 2010

[[Page 124 STAT. 2858]]

Public Law 111-273
111th Congress

                                 An Act


 
To amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide for take-back disposal 
      of controlled substances in certain instances, and for other 
             purposes. <<NOTE: Oct. 12, 2010 -  [S. 3397]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Secure and 
Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010.>> 
SECTION 1. <<NOTE: 21 USC 801 note.>> SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal 
Act of 2010''.
SEC. 2. <<NOTE: 21 USC 822 note.>> 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.

[[Page 124 STAT. 2859]]

            (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. Drug take-back programs are also a convenient and 
        effective means for individuals in various communities to reduce 
        the introduction of some potentially harmful substances into the 
        environment, particularly into water.
            (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, including some pharmaceuticals, in a 
        secure, convenient, and responsible manner. This will also serve 
        to reduce instances of diversion and introduction of some 
        potentially harmful substances into the environment.
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 <<NOTE: Regulations.>> 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.
    ``(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

[[Page 124 STAT. 2860]]

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, long-term care facility, or other 
        person acting in accordance with section 302(g).''.
SEC. 4. DIRECTIVE <<NOTE: 28 USC 994.>> 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.

    Approved October 12, 2010.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 3397:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 156 (2010):
            Aug. 3, considered and passed Senate.
            Sept. 29, considered and passed House, amended. Senate 
                concurred in House amendment.

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