In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

September 29, 2010. 

Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 3397) entitled ‘‘An Act to amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide for take-back disposal of controlled substances in certain 

instances, and for other purposes.’’, do pass with the following 

AMENDMENT: 

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Secure and Responsible 

3 Drug Disposal Act of 2010’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The nonmedical use of prescription drugs is 

7 a growing problem in the United States, particularly 

8 among teenagers. 

9 (2) According to the Department of Justice’s 

10 2009 National Prescription Drug Threat Assess11 ment— 

12 (A) the number of deaths and treatment ad13 missions for controlled prescription drugs 
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1 (CPDs) has increased significantly in recent 

2 years; 

3 (B) unintentional overdose deaths involving 

4 prescription opioids, for example, increased 114 

5 percent from 2001 to 2005, and the number of 

6 treatment admissions for prescription opioids in7 creased 74 percent from 2002 to 2006; and 

8 (C) violent crime and property crime asso9 ciated with abuse and diversion of CPDs has in10 creased in all regions of the United States over 

11 the past 5 years. 

12 (3) According to the Office of National Drug 

13 Control Policy’s 2008 Report ‘‘Prescription for Dan14 ger’’, prescription drug abuse is especially on the rise 

15 for teens— 

16 (A) one-third of all new abusers of prescrip17 tion drugs in 2006 were 12- to 17-year-olds; 

18 (B) teens abuse prescription drugs more 

19 than any illicit drug except marijuana—more 

20 than cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine 

21 combined; and 

22 (C) responsible adults are in a unique posi23 tion to reduce teen access to prescription drugs 

24 because the drugs often are found in the home. 
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1 (4)(A) Many State and local law enforcement 

2 agencies have established drug disposal programs 

3 (often called ‘‘take-back’’ programs) to facilitate the 

4 collection and destruction of unused, unwanted, or ex5 pired medications. These programs help get outdated 

6 or unused medications off household shelves and out 

7 of the reach of children and teenagers. 

8 (B) However, take-back programs often cannot 

9 dispose of the most dangerous pharmaceutical 

10 drugs—controlled substance medications—because 

11 Federal law does not permit take-back programs to 

12 accept controlled substances unless they get specific 

13 permission from the Drug Enforcement Administra14 tion and arrange for full-time law enforcement offi15 cers to receive the controlled substances directly from 

16 the member of the public who seeks to dispose of them. 

17 (C) Individuals seeking to reduce the amount of 

18 unwanted controlled substances in their household 

19 consequently have few disposal options beyond dis20 carding or flushing the substances, which may not be 

21 appropriate means of disposing of the substances. 

22 Drug take-back programs are also a convenient and 

23 effective means for individuals in various commu24 nities to reduce the introduction of some potentially 
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1 harmful substances into the environment, particularly 

2 into water. 

3 (D) Long-term care facilities face a distinct set 

4 of obstacles to the safe disposal of controlled sub5 stances due to the increased volume of controlled sub6 stances they handle. 

7 (5) This Act gives the Attorney General author8 ity to promulgate new regulations, within the frame9 work of the Controlled Substances Act, that will allow 

10 patients to deliver unused pharmaceutical controlled 

11 substances to appropriate entities for disposal in a 

12 safe and effective manner consistent with effective 

13 controls against diversion. 

14 (6) The goal of this Act is to encourage the Attor15 ney General to set controlled substance diversion pre16 vention parameters that will allow public and private 

17 entities to develop a variety of methods of collection 

18 and disposal of controlled substances, including some 

19 pharmaceuticals, in a secure, convenient, and respon20 sible manner. This will also serve to reduce instances 

21 of diversion and introduction of some potentially 

22 harmful substances into the environment. 
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1 SEC. 3. DELIVERY OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES BY ULTI2 MATE USERS FOR DISPOSAL. 

3 (a) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—Section 302 of the 

4 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 822) is amended by 

5 adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(g)(1) An ultimate user who has lawfully obtained 

7 a controlled substance in accordance with this title may, 

8 without being registered, deliver the controlled substance to 

9 another person for the purpose of disposal of the controlled 

10 substance if— 

11 ‘‘(A) the person receiving the controlled substance 

12 is authorized under this title to engage in such activ13 ity; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the disposal takes place in accordance with 

15 regulations issued by the Attorney General to prevent 

16 diversion of controlled substances. 

17 ‘‘(2) In developing regulations under this subsection, 

18 the Attorney General shall take into consideration the pub19 lic health and safety, as well as the ease and cost of program 

20 implementation and participation by various communities. 

21 Such regulations may not require any entity to establish 

22 or operate a delivery or disposal program. 

23 ‘‘(3) The Attorney General may, by regulation, author24 ize long-term care facilities, as defined by the Attorney Gen25 eral by regulation, to dispose of controlled substances on 

26 behalf of ultimate users who reside, or have resided, at such 
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1 long-term care facilities in a manner that the Attorney Gen2 eral determines will provide effective controls against diver3 sion and be consistent with the public health and safety. 

4 ‘‘(4) If a person dies while lawfully in possession of 

5 a controlled substance for personal use, any person lawfully 

6 entitled to dispose of the decedent’s property may deliver 

7 the controlled substance to another person for the purpose 

8 of disposal under the same conditions as provided in para9 graph (1) for an ultimate user.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 308(b) of the 

11 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 828(b)) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking the period at the end of para13 graph (2) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(3) the delivery of such a substance for the pur16 pose of disposal by an ultimate user, long-term care 

17 facility, or other person acting in accordance with 

18 section 302(g).’’. 

19 SEC. 4. DIRECTIVE TO THE UNITED STATES SENTENCING 

20 COMMISSION. 

21 Pursuant to its authority under section 994 of title 

22 28, United States Code, the United States Sentencing Com23 mission shall review and, if appropriate, amend the Federal 

24 sentencing guidelines and policy statements to ensure that 

25 the guidelines and policy statements provide an appro-
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1 priate penalty increase of up to 2 offense levels above the 

2 sentence otherwise applicable in Part D of the Guidelines 

3 Manual if a person is convicted of a drug offense resulting 

4 from the authorization of that person to receive scheduled 

5 substances from an ultimate user or long-term care facility 

6 as set forth in the amendments made by section 3. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
S. 3397 

AMENDMENT