II 

Calendar No. 471 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2837 

To improve the systems for identifying the diversion of controlled substances. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 14, 2018 

Ms. HASSAN (for herself and Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

JUNE 19, 2018 

Reported by Mr. GRASSLEY, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To improve the systems for identifying the diversion of 

controlled substances. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Drug Di5 version Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO PREVENT DRUG DIVERSION. 

7 (a) DEFINITION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 102 of the Con2 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802) is amended 

3 by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(57) The term ‘suspicious order’ includes— 

5 ‘‘(A) an order of a controlled substance of 

6 unusual size; 

7 ‘‘(B) an order of a controlled substance de8 viating substantially from a normal pattern; 

9 ‘‘(C) orders of controlled substances of un10 usual frequency; and 

11 ‘‘(D) an order or pattern of orders of a 

12 controlled substance that meet such other cri13 teria as are established by the Attorney General 

14 by regulation.’’. 

15 (2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after 

16 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen17 eral shall promulgate regulations under paragraph 

18 (57)(D) of section 102 of the Controlled Substances 

19 Act, as added by paragraph (1) of this subsection. 

20 (b) SUSPICIOUS ORDERS.—Part C of the Controlled 

21 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 821 et seq.) is amended by 

22 adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘SEC. 312. SUSPICIOUS ORDERS. 

24 ‘‘(a) REPORTING.—Each registrant shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) design and operate a system to identify 

2 suspicious orders for the registrant; 

3 ‘‘(2) ensure that the system designed and oper4 ated under paragraph (1) by the registrant complies 

5 with applicable Federal and State privacy laws; and 

6 ‘‘(3) upon discovering a suspicious order or se7 ries of orders, notify the Administrator of the Drug 

8 Enforcement Administration and the Special Agent 

9 in Charge of the Division Office of the Drug En10 forcement Administration for the area in which the 

11 registrant is located or conducts business. 

12 ‘‘(b) SUSPICIOUS ORDER DATABASE.—Not later than 

13 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the At14 torney General shall establish a centralized database for 

15 collecting reports of suspicious orders. 

16 ‘‘(c) SHARING INFORMATION WITH THE STATES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

18 make available to the point of contact for criminal 

19 and civil enforcement efforts designated by the Gov20 ernor or chief executive officer of a State— 

21 ‘‘(A) information regarding suspicious or22 ders in the State, including information in the 

23 database established under subsection (b); and 

24 ‘‘(B) information relating to the State in 

25 the Automation of Reports and Consolidated 


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1 Orders System, or any subsequent automated 

2 system developed by the Drug Enforcement Ad3 ministration to monitor selected controlled sub4 stances. 

5 ‘‘(2) TIMING.—The Attorney General shall pro6 vide information in accordance with paragraph (1) 

7 within a reasonable period of time after obtaining 

8 the information. 

9 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION.—In establishing the proc10 ess for the provision of information under this sub11 section, the Attorney General shall coordinate with 

12 States to ensure that the Attorney General has ac13 cess to information, as permitted under State law, 

14 possessed by the States relating to prescriptions for 

15 controlled substances that will assist in enforcing 

16 Federal law.’’. 

17 (c) INCREASED CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 402(c) of 

18 the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 842(c)) is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘shall not 

21 exceed $10,000.’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘shall 

22 not exceed— 

23 ‘‘(i) except as provided in clause (ii), $10,000; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) if the violation relates to the reporting of 

2 suspicious orders or failing to maintain effective con3 trols against diversion, $100,000.’’; and 

4 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

5 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or 

6 (D)’’ after ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; and 

7 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(D) In the case of a violation referred to in subpara9 graph (A) that was a violation of paragraph (5) or (10) 

10 of subsection (a) that relates to the reporting of suspicious 

11 orders or failing to maintain effective controls against di12 version, the criminal fine shall not exceed $500,000.’’. 

13 (d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

14 (1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

15 ‘‘suspicious orders’’ has the meaning given that term 

16 in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act, as 

17 amended by this Act. 

18 (2) ONE TIME REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

20 General shall submit to Congress a report on the re21 porting of suspicious orders, which shall include— 

22 (A) a description of the centralized data23 base established under section 312 of the Con24 trolled Substances Act, as added by this sec25 tion, to collect reports of suspicious orders; 


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1 (B) a description of the system established 

2 under section 312 of the Controlled Substances 

3 Act, as added by this section, to share informa4 tion with States; 

5 (C) information regarding how the Attor6 ney General used reports of suspicious orders 

7 before the date of enactment of this Act and 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act, includ9 ing how the Attorney General received the re10 ports and what actions were taken in response 

11 to the reports; and 

12 (D) descriptions of the data analyses con13 ducted on reports of suspicious orders and in14 formation in the Automation of Reports and 

15 Consolidated Orders System of the Drug En16 forcement Administration to identify suspicious 

17 activity. 

18 (3) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.—Not later than 1 

19 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and an20 nually thereafter until the date that is 5 years after 

21 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen22 eral shall submit to Congress a report providing, for 

23 the previous year— 

24 (A) the number of reports of suspicious or25 ders; 


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1 (B) a description of actions taken in re2 sponse to reports of suspicious orders; and 

3 (C) a description of the information shared 

4 with States based on reports of suspicious or5 ders and information in the Automation of Re6 ports and Consolidated Orders System of the 

7 Drug Enforcement Administration. 

8 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

9 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Drug Diver10 sion Act of 2018’’. 

11 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO PREVENT DRUG DIVERSION. 

12 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 102 of the Controlled Sub13 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 802) is amended by adding at the 

14 end the following: 

15 ‘‘(57) The term ‘suspicious order’ includes— 

16 ‘‘(A) an order of a controlled substance of 

17 unusual size; 

18 ‘‘(B) an order of a controlled substance de19 viating substantially from a normal pattern; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(C) orders of controlled substances of un22 usual frequency.’’. 

23 (b) SUSPICIOUS ORDERS.—Part C of the Controlled 

24 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 821 et seq.) is amended by add25 ing at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 312. SUSPICIOUS ORDERS. 

2 ‘‘(a) REPORTING.—Each registrant shall— 

3 ‘‘(1) design and operate a system to identify sus4 picious orders for the registrant; 

5 ‘‘(2) ensure that the system designed and oper6 ated under paragraph (1) by the registrant complies 

7 with applicable Federal and State privacy laws; and 

8 ‘‘(3) upon discovering a suspicious order or se9 ries of orders, notify the Administrator of the Drug 

10 Enforcement Administration and the Special Agent 

11 in Charge of the Division Office of the Drug Enforce12 ment Administration for the area in which the reg13 istrant is located or conducts business. 

14 ‘‘(b) SUSPICIOUS ORDER DATABASE.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

16 the date of enactment of this section, the Attorney 

17 General shall establish a centralized database for col18 lecting reports of suspicious orders. 

19 ‘‘(2) SATISFACTION OF REPORTING REQUIRE20 MENTS.—If a registrant reports a suspicious order to 

21 the centralized database established under paragraph 

22 (1), the registrant shall be considered to have com23 plied with the requirement under subsection (a)(3) to 

24 notify the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement 

25 Administration and the Special Agent in Charge of 

26 the Division Office of the Drug Enforcement AdminisVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Jun 19, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2837.RS S2837

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1 tration for the area in which the registrant is located 

2 or conducts business. 

3 ‘‘(c) SHARING INFORMATION WITH THE STATES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

5 prepare and make available information regarding 

6 suspicious orders in a State, including information 

7 in the database established under subsection (b)(1), to 

8 the point of contact for purposes of administrative, 

9 civil, and criminal oversight relating to the diversion 

10 of controlled substances for the State, as designated by 

11 the Governor or chief executive officer of the State. 

12 ‘‘(2) TIMING.—The Attorney General shall pro13 vide information in accordance with paragraph (1) 

14 within a reasonable period of time after obtaining the 

15 information. 

16 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION.—In establishing the process 

17 for the provision of information under this subsection, 

18 the Attorney General shall coordinate with States to 

19 ensure that the Attorney General has access to infor20 mation, as permitted under State law, possessed by 

21 the States relating to prescriptions for controlled sub22 stances that will assist in enforcing Federal law.’’. 

23 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

24 (1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

25 ‘‘suspicious order’’ has the meaning given that term 


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1 in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act, as 

2 amended by this Act. 

3 (2) ONE TIME REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

5 General shall submit to Congress a report on the re6 porting of suspicious orders, which shall include— 

7 (A) a description of the centralized database 

8 established under section 312 of the Controlled 

9 Substances Act, as added by this section, to col10 lect reports of suspicious orders; 

11 (B) a description of the system and reports 

12 established under section 312 of the Controlled 

13 Substances Act, as added by this section, to share 

14 information with States; 

15 (C) information regarding how the Attorney 

16 General used reports of suspicious orders before 

17 the date of enactment of this Act and after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, including how the 

19 Attorney General received the reports and what 

20 actions were taken in response to the reports; 

21 and 

22 (D) descriptions of the data analyses con23 ducted on reports of suspicious orders to identify, 

24 analyze, and stop suspicious activity. 


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1 (3) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.—Not later than 1 

2 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and an3 nually thereafter until the date that is 5 years after 

4 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen5 eral shall submit to Congress a report providing, for 

6 the previous year— 

7 (A) the number of reports of suspicious or8 ders; 

9 (B) a summary of actions taken in response 

10 to reports, in the aggregate, of suspicious orders; 

11 and 

12 (C) a description of the information shared 

13 with States based on reports of suspicious orders. 


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Calendar No. 471 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2837 

A BILL 

To improve the systems for identifying the 

diversion of controlled substances. 

JUNE 19, 2018 

Reported with an amendment 


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