Title: Safe Disposal of Opioids Act of 2019
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Safe Disposal of Opioids Act of 2019
This bill directs the Department of Justice to award grants to establish or maintain disposal sites for unwanted prescription medications.
Additionally, the bill imposes a fee on the sale of an active opioid by the manufacturer, producer, or importer. The Department of Health and Human Services must establish a mechanism to provide discounts to patients to ensure that they do not pay the fee.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3171 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3171

   To amend the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 to 
authorize the Attorney General, in coordination with the Administrator 
  of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, and the Director of the Office of National Drug Control 
 Policy, to award grants to covered entities to establish or maintain 
  disposal sites for unwanted prescription medications, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 10, 2019

 Ms. Bonamici (for herself, Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire, Ms. Wild, Ms. 
  Johnson of Texas, and Mrs. Dingell) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 to 
authorize the Attorney General, in coordination with the Administrator 
  of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, and the Director of the Office of National Drug Control 
 Policy, to award grants to covered entities to establish or maintain 
  disposal sites for unwanted prescription medications, 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 ``Safe Disposal of Opioids Act of 
2019''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR DISPOSAL SITES FOR UNWANTED PRESCRIPTION 
              MEDICATIONS.

    Section 203 of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 
(21 U.S.C. 822a) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Grants for Disposal Sites for Unwanted Prescription 
Medications.--
            ``(1) Grants.--
                    ``(A) Awards.--In carrying out subsection (b), the 
                Attorney General shall award grants to covered entities 
                to establish or maintain disposal sites for unwanted 
                prescription medications.
                    ``(B) Limitation.--Of the total amount of awards 
                under subparagraph (A) for a fiscal year, the Attorney 
                General shall not award more than 10 percent to covered 
                entities that are--
                            ``(i) State, local, or tribal law 
                        enforcement agencies; or
                            ``(ii) manufacturers, distributors, or 
                        reverse distributors of prescription 
                        medications.
            ``(2) Discounts for eligible patients.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary of Health and 
                Human Services shall establish a mechanism by which 
                amounts paid by an eligible patient for an active 
                opioid are discounted at time of payment or purchase to 
                ensure that such patient does not pay any amount 
                attributable to a fee under paragraph (3), with as 
                little burden on the patient as possible.
                    ``(B) Definition.--For purposes of subparagraph 
                (A), the term `eligible patient' means--
                            ``(i) a patient for whom any active opioid 
                        (as so defined) is prescribed to treat pain 
                        relating to cancer or cancer treatment;
                            ``(ii) a patient participating in hospice 
                        care; and
                            ``(iii) in the case of the death or 
                        incapacity of a patient described in 
                        subparagraph (A) or (B) or any similar 
                        situation as determined by the Secretary of 
                        Health and Human Services, the appropriate 
                        family member, medical proxy, or similar 
                        representative or the estate of such patient.
            ``(3) Fees.--
                    ``(A) In general.--There is hereby imposed on the 
                sale of any active opioid by the manufacturer, 
                producer, or importer a fee equal to 1 cent per 100 
                milligrams so sold.
                    ``(B) Special rules.--
                            ``(i) Definition.--In this paragraph, the 
                        term `active opioid'--
                                    ``(I) means any controlled 
                                substance (as defined in section 102 of 
                                the Controlled Substances Act, as in 
                                effect on the date of the Safe Disposal 
                                of Opioids Act of 2019) which is opium, 
                                an opiate, or any derivative thereof; 
                                and
                                    ``(II) excludes any prescribed drug 
                                which is used exclusively for the 
                                treatment of opioid addiction as part 
                                of a medically assisted treatment 
                                effort.
                            ``(ii) Exclusion of other ingredients.--In 
                        the case of a product that includes an active 
                        opioid and another ingredient, subparagraph (A) 
                        shall apply only to the portion of such product 
                        that is an active opioid.
            ``(4) Authorization of appropriations.--For fiscal year 
        2020 and each subsequent fiscal year, there is authorized to be 
        appropriated to carry out this subsection an amount not to 
        exceed the aggregate amount of the fees collected pursuant to 
        paragraph (3).''.
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