(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 These programs help get outdated or unused medications off household shelves and out of the reach of children and teenagers.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. 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.
U.S. Congress - Text of S.3397 as Enrolled Bill Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010
