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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3397 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.3397

                      One Hundred Eleventh Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America

                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
             the fifth day of January, two thousand and ten

                                 An Act

 
To amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide for take-back disposal 
 of controlled substances in certain instances, and for other purposes.

    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. 
    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 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 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 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.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.
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