zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Smarter Sentencing Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to direct the court to impose a sentence for specified controlled substance offenses without regard to any statutory minimum sentence if the court finds that the criminal history category for the defendant is not higher than category two. (Currently, the court may disregard the statutory minimum if the defendant does not have more than one criminal history point.)

Authorizes a court that imposed a sentence for a crack cocaine possession or trafficking offense committed before August 3, 2010, on motion of the defendant, the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, the attorney for the government, or the court, to impose a reduced sentence as if provisions of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 were in effect at the time such offense was committed.

Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (CSIEA) to reduce mandatory minimum sentences for manufacturing, distributing, dispensing, possessing, importing, or exporting specified controlled substances.

Directs the Commission to review and amend its guidelines and policy statements applicable to persons convicted of such an offense under the CSA and CSIEA to ensure consistency with this Act and to consider specified factors, including: (1) its mandate to formulate guidelines to minimize the likelihood that the federal prison population will exceed federal prison capacity, (2) fiscal implications of changes, (3) relevant public safety concerns, (4) the intent of Congress that penalties for violent and serious drug traffickers who present public safety risks remain appropriately severe, and (5) the need to reduce and prevent racial disparities in sentencing.

Requires the Attorney General to report on how the reduced expenditures on federal corrections and cost savings resulting from this Act will be used to help reduce overcrowding, increase investment in law enforcement and crime prevention, and reduce recidivism.

Date: 2013-10-30
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Unmuzzle the Drug Czar Act of 2014 - Amends the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998 to repeal a provision requiring the Director of National Drug Control Policy to: (1) ensure that no federal funds appropriated to the Office of National Drug Control Policy are expended for any study or contract relating to the legalization (for a medical or any other use) of a substance listed in schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (which includes marijuana), and (2) oppose any attempt to legalize the use of any such substance that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved for use for medical purposes.

Date: 2014-02-11
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2013 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to require registrants to manufacture, distribute, or dispense controlled substances to obtain a criminal background check on, and perform drug testing on, each employee with access to facility areas where controlled substances are stored. Requires such background checks to be obtained when such an employee is hired and periodically thereafter, but not more frequently than every two years. Authorizes registration suspension or revocation and a $10,000 penalty for failing to comply with such requirements.

Requires the Attorney General, before revoking or suspending a registration under such Act, to: (1) provide the registrant notice of the grounds for doing so, and where such grounds consist of a legal violation, a specific citation to such law; (2) give the registrant an opportunity to submit a corrective action plan within a reasonable time period; and (3) determine whether, in light of the plan, revocation or suspension proceedings should be discontinued or deferred or additional changes need to be made in such plan.

Establishes the Combating Prescription Drug Abuse Working Group to: (1) report on federal initiatives to reduce prescription drug diversion and abuse, (2) identify gaps and opportunities to ensure the safe use of prescription drugs with the potential for diversion and abuse, (3) examine recommendations to transfer one or more controlled substances from schedule III to schedule II to evaluate the effectiveness of such a transfer in reducing diversion and abuse and any effect of such a transfer on access to prescription drugs for legitimate medical purposes, (4) make recommendations on specific ways to reduce the diversion and abuse of prescription drugs, and (5) report on its efforts to prevent or reduce prescription drug diversion and abuse to ensure that patients continue to have access to medications.

Date: 2014-02-18
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Ready to Work Act - Directs the Secretary of Labor, not later than one year after enactment of this Act, to issue a final rule pursuant to the Social Security Act that allows a state to enact legislation to test an applicant for unemployment compensation for use of controlled substances as a condition for receiving such compensation, if that applicant is an individual for whom suitable work is only available in an occupation that regularly conducts drug testing.

Prescribes a special rule providing that, if the Secretary has not issued an interim final rule within 180 days after enactment of this Act, the final rule shall require the state unemployment compensation agency to determine whether an occupation regularly conducts drug testing.

Date: 2014-03-26
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Labor and employment
Legitimate Use of Medical Marijuana Act or the LUMMA - Transfers marijuana from schedule I to schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

Provides that in a state in which marijuana may be prescribed for medical use under state law, no provision of the CSA or of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act shall prohibit or otherwise restrict: (1) the prescription of marijuana for medical use; (2) an authorized patient from obtaining, possessing, transporting, or using marijuana for that individual's medical use; (3) an individual from obtaining, possessing, transporting, or manufacturing marijuana pursuant to an authorization under state law; (4) a pharmacy or other entity authorized under state law to distribute medical marijuana to an authorized patient for medical use from obtaining, possessing, or distributing marijuana for that purpose; or (5) an entity authorized by such state from producing, processing, or distributing marijuana for  prescribed medical use.

Date: 2014-04-28
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Health
Stop Meth Labs and Enhance Patient Access Act of 2014 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to authorize the Attorney General to exempt a scheduled listed chemical product from specified requirements regarding sales quantity, nonliquid forms, and retail transactions upon determining that it is not practical by processes known to be employed by clandestine laboratory operators to use the product in the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine (currently, upon determining that the product cannot be used in the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine).

Date: 2014-04-28
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission Act of 2014 - Establishes the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission, which shall: (1) conduct a comprehensive review of U.S. foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere to reduce the illicit drug supply and drug abuse and reduce the damage associated with illicit drug markets and trafficking, and (2) identify policy and program options to improve existing international and domestic counternarcotics policy.

Terminates the Commission 60 days after submission of its report.

Date: 2014-05-09
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: International affairs
Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2014 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to define: (1) "factors as may be relevant to and consistent with the public health and safety," for purposes of the Attorney General's determination of whether registering an applicant to manufacture or distribute a controlled substance in schedule I or II is in the public interest, as factors that are relevant to and consistent with the findings of such Act; and (2) "imminent danger to the public health or safety," for purposes of the suspension of such a registration, to mean that in the absence of an immediate suspension order, controlled substances will continue to be intentionally diverted outside of legitimate distribution channels or distributed or dispensed outside the usual course of professional practices or in a manner that poses a present or foreseeable risk of serious adverse health consequences or death.

Requires an order to show cause as to why such a registration should not be denied, revoked, or suspended to: (1) contain a statement of the basis for the denial, revocation, or suspension, including specific citations to any laws or regulations alleged to be violated; (2) direct the applicant or registrant to appear before the Attorney General at a specific place and time within 30 days after receipt of the order; and (3) notify the applicant or registrant of the opportunity to submit a corrective action plan on or before such appearance. Requires the Attorney General, upon review of any such plan, to determine whether denial, revocation, or suspension proceedings should be discontinued or deferred for purposes of modifications to such plan. Makes such requirements inapplicable to the issuance of an immediate suspension order.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Commissioner of Food and Drugs (FDA) and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to submit a report identifying: (1) obstacles to legitimate patient access to controlled substances; (2) issues with diversion of controlled substances; and (3) how collaboration between federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies and the pharmaceutical industry can benefit patients and prevent diversion and abuse of controlled substances.

Date: 2014-05-21
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on September 15, 2014. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2014 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to add specified substances to the list of those included within the definition of "anabolic steroid." Provides that a drug or hormonal substance (other than estrogens, progestins, corticosteroids, and dehydroepiandrosterone) that is not listed and that is derived from, or has a chemical structure substantially similar to, an anabolic steroid that is listed, shall be considered to be an anabolic steroid for purposes of such Act if it: (1) has been created or manufactured with the intent of producing a substance that either promotes muscle growth or otherwise causes a pharmacological effect similar to that of testosterone; or (2) has been, or is intended to be, promoted in any manner suggesting that consuming it will promote any pharmacological effect similar to that of testosterone.

Prohibits a substance from being considered to be a drug or hormonal substance for purposes of such Act if it is: (1) an herb or other botanical, a concentrate, metabolite, or extract of, or a constituent isolated directly from, an herb or other botanical, or a combination of two or more such substances; or (2) a dietary ingredient for purposes of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and is not anabolic or androgenic. Requires any person claiming the benefit of such an exception to bear the burden of providing the appropriate evidence.

 Authorizes the Attorney General to issue an order adding a drug or other substance to the definition of "anabolic steroid" upon finding that: (1) the substance satisfies the criteria for being considered an anabolic steroid, and (2) such addition will assist in preventing abuse or misuse of the substance.

 Prohibits importing, exporting, manufacturing, distributing, dispensing, or possessing with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense any anabolic steroid, or any product containing an anabolic steroid, unless it bears a label clearly identifying the anabolic steroid by the nomenclature used by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). Prescribes penalties. Sets forth an exemption from such IUPAC nomenclature requirement if such product is labeled in the manner required under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as described in this Act.

Authorizes the Attorney General to: (1) collect data and analyze products to determine whether they contain anabolic steroids and are properly labeled, and (2) publish a list of products containing an anabolic steroid that are not properly labeled.

Date: 2014-05-29
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Synthetic Abuse and Labeling of Toxic Substances Act of 2014 or the SALTS Act - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to provide that, in determining whether a controlled substance analogue was intended for human consumption, the following factors may be considered: (1) the marketing, advertising, and labeling of the substance; (2) the known efficacy or usefulness of the substance for the marketed, advertised, or labeled purpose; (3) the difference between the price at which the substance is sold and the price at which the substance it is purported to be or advertised as is normally sold; (4) the diversion of the substance from legitimate channels and the clandestine importation, manufacture, or distribution of the substance; and (5) whether the defendant knew or should have known that the substance was intended to be consumed by injection, inhalation, ingestion, or any other immediate means.

Declares that evidence that a substance was not marketed, advertised, or labeled for human consumption shall not by itself be sufficient to establish that the substance was not intended for human consumption.

Date: 2014-06-25
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Charlotte's Web Medical Hemp Act of 2014 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to exclude therapeutic hemp and cannabidiol: (1) from the definition of "marihuana," and (2) from treatment as a controlled substance under such Act. Defines: (1) "therapeutic hemp" to mean the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of such plant with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis; and (2) "cannabidiol" to mean the substance cannabidiol, as derived from therapeutic hemp.

Exempts therapeutic hemp or cannabidiol from the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Declares that nothing in this Act shall restrict any activities related to the use, production, or distribution of marihuana in a state in which such activities are legal under state law.

Date: 2014-07-28
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act of 2014 or the FAIR Act - Amends the federal criminal code to increase the federal government's burden of proof in civil forfeiture proceedings to clear and convincing evidence. Requires the government, in addition to showing a substantial connection between the seized property and the offense in a forfeiture proceeding, to establish by clear and convincing evidence that the owner of any interest in the seized property intentionally used the property in connection with the offense or knowingly consented or was willfully blind to the use of the property by another in connection with the offense.

Requires proceeds from the disposition of forfeited property to be deposited into the General Fund of the Treasury, rather than to Department of Justice (DOJ) accounts for law enforcement activities.

Date: 2014-09-17
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Protecting Public Safety and Federal Resources Act - Disapproves amendment number 3 of the Amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines submitted by the U.S. Sentencing Commission to Congress on April 30, 2014, relating to statutory mandatory minimum penalties for drug trafficking offenses.

Date: 2014-09-18
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2014 - Directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to convene a Pain Management Best Practices Interagency Task Force.

Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to address drug abuse, including for educational efforts, communitywide strategies that address local drug crises, alternative to incarceration programs, disposal sites for unwanted prescription medications, educational programs for offenders, programs to address the use of opioids among pregnant and parenting female offenders, and veterans treatment court programs.

Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to award grants to state substance abuse agencies, units of local government, nonprofit organizations, and Indian tribes or tribal organizations that have a high rate, or have had a rapid increase, in the use of opioids.

Directs the Attorney General to make grants for medication assisted treatment programs through criminal justice agencies, initiatives involving young people, and recovery services.

 Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit the Department of Education (ED) from including any question about the conviction of an applicant for the possession or sale of illegal drugs on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form.

Directs HHS to establish a bipartisan Task Force on Recovery and Collateral Consequences (collateral consequences are penalties imposed on an individual as a result of a criminal conviction but not as part of the court judgment, or optionally imposed by an administrative agency, official, or civil court).

 Requires grants under this Act to give priority to states that provide civil liability protection for individuals administering naloxone (a prescription drug used to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose) to counteract opioid overdoses.

Date: 2014-12-10
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Fifth Amendment Restoration Act of 2014 - Prohibits government seizures of private property under any federal law providing for civil asset forfeiture.

Defines "property" to include real property, financial assets, and commonly held property owned by more than one person.

Bars federal agencies from: (1) participating in or benefiting from any multiple-jurisdiction, equitable sharing, or shared civil asset forfeiture program with any state or local government; or (2) accepting or adopting property seized by a state or local government.

Excludes from such prohibitions: (1) contraband, including illegal imports or exports, and anything the possession of which is a crime; or (2) property subject to forfeiture or seizure because the owner has first been convicted of a criminal offense.

Date: 2014-12-10
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Law
Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of "marihuana." Defines "industrial hemp" to mean the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of such plant, whether growing or not, with a delta-nine tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis. Deems Cannabis sativa L. to meet that concentration limit if a person grows or processes it for purposes of making industrial hemp in accordance with state law, unless the Attorney General determines that the state law is not reasonably calculated to comply with such definition.

Date: 2013-02-14
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Safe Prescribing Act of 2013 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to remove dihydrocodeinone (hydrocodone) from classification as a schedule III controlled substance.

Directs the Attorney General to immediately allow manufacturers and distributors to store hydrocodone combination products in accordance with the physical security requirements for schedule III, IV, and V controlled substances for three years beginning on the date of enactment of this Act.

Requires the Comptroller General to submit a report on the reclassification of hydrocodone products under this Act, including: (1) an assessment of the degree to which the reclassification of such products under this Act impacts the ability of patients with legitimate medical needs, particularly those in rural areas and nursing home facilities, to access adequate pain management; and (2) recommendations necessary to address any issues relating to patient access to adequate pain management.

Date: 2013-03-20
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Transnational Drug Trafficking Act of 2013 - Amends the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to prohibit the manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance in schedule I or II, flunitrazepam, or a listed chemical by individuals having reasonable cause to believe that such substance or chemical will be unlawfully imported into the United States or into waters within 12 miles of the U.S. coast.

Prohibits the manufacture or distribution of a listed chemical: (1) intending or knowing that it will be used to manufacture a controlled substance; and (2) intending, knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe that the substance will be unlawfully imported into the United States.

Amends the federal criminal code to revise the prohibition against, and penalties for, intentionally trafficking in a counterfeit drug to apply to intentionally trafficking in a drug and knowingly using a counterfeit mark on or in connection with such drug.

Date: 2013-04-11
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Servicemembers and Veterans Prescription Drug Safety Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Defense (Secretary) and the Attorney General (AG) to jointly carry out a program under which a member of the Armed Forces (member), an individual receiving or entitled to military retired or retainer pay, a dependent-beneficiary of a member, or any person lawfully entitled to dispose of the property of any of such individuals may deliver a personal-use controlled substance (the prescription medication of a deceased individual) for disposal at a facility to be specified by the Secretary and the AG. Requires the Secretary and AG, in implementing the program, to develop appropriate guidelines and procedures to prevent the diversion, misuse, theft, or loss of such delivered substances.

Directs the Secretary and the AG to jointly carry out a program under which a veteran, a veteran's spouse or dependent, a person in receipt of medical services at a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facility, or any person lawfully entitled to dispose of the property of any of such individuals may deliver such a controlled substance for disposal at a specified facility, subject to the same guidelines and procedures with respect to such delivered substances.

Date: 2013-06-04
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Synthetic Abuse and Labeling of Toxic Substances Act of 2013 or the SALTS Act - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to provide that, in determining whether a controlled substance analogue was intended for human consumption, the following factors may be considered: (1) the marketing, advertising, and labeling of the substance; (2) the known efficacy or usefulness of the substance for the marketed, advertised, or labeled purpose; (3) the difference between the price at which the substance is sold and the price at which the substance it is purported to be or advertised as is normally sold; (4) the diversion of the substance from legitimate channels and the clandestine importation, manufacture, or distribution of the substance; and (5) whether the defendant knew or should have known that the substance was intended to be consumed by injection, inhalation, ingestion, or any other immediate means.

Declares that evidence that a substance was not marketed, advertised, or labeled for human consumption shall not by itself be sufficient to establish that the substance was not intended for human consumption.

Date: 2013-07-18
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Protecting Our Youth from Dangerous Synthetic Drugs Act of 2013 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to include in the definition of a "controlled substance analogue" a substance designated as such by the Controlled Substance Analogue Committee (established by this Act).

Directs the Attorney General to establish such Committee as an interagency committee headed by the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and comprised of scientific experts in the fields of chemistry and pharmacology from DEA, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and any other federal agency determined by the Attorney General to be appropriate.

 Requires the Committee to designate, and establish and maintain a list of, controlled substance analogues determined to be similar to a schedule I or II controlled substance in either chemical structure or predictive effect on the body in such a manner as to make it likely that the substance will, or can be reasonably expected to, have a potential for abuse. Directs the Administrator to publish a description of each designation made by the Committee.

Amends the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to prohibit the importation of any controlled substance analogue except pursuant to such notification or declaration as the Attorney General may prescribe.

Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and, if appropriate, amend the federal sentencing guidelines and policy statements to ensure that they provide adequate penalties for any offense involving the unlawful manufacturing, importing, exporting, or trafficking of controlled substance analogues and similar offenses.

Date: 2013-07-18
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act of 2013 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to make it unlawful for any person at least 18 years of age to: (1) knowingly or intentionally manufacture or create a Schedule I or II controlled substance that is combined with a beverage or candy product, marketed or packaged to appear similar to a beverage or candy product, or modified by flavoring or coloring; and (2) know, or have reasonable cause to believe, that the combined, marketed, packaged, or modified controlled substance will be distributed, dispensed, or sold to a person under 18 years of age.

Imposes enhanced criminal penalties for violations (not more than 10 years for a first offense or 20 years for a subsequent offense, involving the same controlled substance and schedule).

 Exempts any controlled substance that has been approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the drug approval process or that has been altered at the direction of a medical practitioner for a legitimate medical purpose.

Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to review its guidelines and policy statements to reflect the enhanced penalties provided by this Act.

Date: 2013-11-12
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Protecting Lands Against Narcotics Trafficking Act of 2013 or the PLANT Act - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to: (1) impose an additional term of up to ten years' imprisonment for cultivating or manufacturing controlled substances on federal property; (2) prohibit a person, while cultivating or manufacturing a controlled substance on federal property, from clear cutting timber or diverting, obstructing, or draining an aquifer, spring, stream, river or body of water; and (3) apply the prohibition against assembling, maintaining, or placing a booby trap on federal property where a controlled substance is being manufactured to federal property where a controlled substance is being cultivated. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to amend and review the Federal Sentencing Guidelines to provide for a penalty enhancement of not less than one offense level for manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing, or possessing with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense a controlled substance or a counterfeit substance while on federal property or intentionally trespassing on the property of another if such offense: (1) includes the use of a poison, chemical, or other hazardous substance to cultivate or manufacture controlled substances; (2) creates a hazard to humans, wildlife, or domestic animals; (3) degrades or harms the environment or natural resources; (4) pollutes an aquifer, spring, stream, river, or body of water; (5) involves the diversion, redirection, obstruction, or draining of an aquifer, spring, stream, river, or body of water or the clear cut of timber while cultivating or manufacturing a controlled substance; or (6) involves the possession of a firearm while cultivating or manufacturing controlled substances.

Date: 2013-12-20
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2014 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to:  (1) expand the list of substances defined as "anabolic steroids"; (2) authorize the Attorney General to issue a temporary order adding a drug or other substance to the list of anabolic steroids; (3) impose enhanced criminal and civil penalties for possessing or trafficking in any anabolic steroid, or product containing an anabolic steroid, unless it bears a label clearly identifying the anabolic steroid by the nomenclature used by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; and (4) authorize the Attorney General to collect data and analyze products to determine whether they contain anabolic steroids and are properly labeled.

Specifies that a substance shall not be considered to be a drug or hormonal substance that is considered to be an anaboloic steroid if it is: (1) an herb or other botanical; (2) a concentrate, metabolite, or extract of, or a constituent isolated directly from, an herb or other botanical; (3) a combination of two or more such substances (i.e., botanical or concentrate, metabolite, or extract); or (4) a dietary ingredient for purposes of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Provides that any person claiming the benefit of an exemption or exception from being considered a drug or hormonal substance shall bear the burden of providing the appropriate evidence.

Directs: (1) the United States Sentencing Commission to review and amend federal sentencing guidelines with respect to offenses involving anabolic steroids, and (2) the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to report every two years on what anabolic steroids have been scheduled on a temporary basis under this Act.

Date: 2014-02-11
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Drug-Free Playgrounds Safety Enhancement Act of 2014 - Amends provisions of the Controlled Substances Act prescribing enhanced penalties for distributing or manufacturing drugs in or near certain facilities, such as schools, playgrounds, youth centers, and swimming pools, to: (1) include among such facilities a video amusement game facility (currently, a video arcade facility); (2) define a "video amusement game facility" as any facility that is legally accessible to persons under 18 years of age, that is intended primarily for amusement, and that contains video game machines or other similar youth games; and (3) revise the definition of "playground" to mean any outdoor area that is intended for recreation, that is open to the public, and that contains one or more apparatus intended for the recreation of children, including play structures, sliding boards, swingsets, seesaws, merry-go-rounds, slides, jungle gyms, chin-up bars, sandboxes, spring riders, monkey bars, overhead ladders, trapeze rings, playhouses, rope bridges, and mazes.

Date: 2014-04-10
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Heroin and Prescription Opioid Abuse Prevention, Education, and Enforcement Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to convene a Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force.

 Reauthorizes the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program through FY2019. Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to report on the effectiveness of the program in reducing prescription drug abuse and any corresponding increase or decrease in the use of heroin.

Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to reauthorize the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program through FY2019.

Requires the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to:

 revise the 2011 Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan to reassess the approach to addressing prescription drug abuse in light of an increase in heroin use and to outline actions or programs to reduce and prevent such abuse, and ensure that ONDCP takes into account a specified GAO report concerning program coordination and identifies opportunities to enhance interagency coordination as part of the Plan. Requires the Secretary to advance the education and awareness of providers, patients, and stakeholders regarding the risk of abuse of prescription opioid drugs if such products are not taken as prescribed. Directs ONDCP to establish a national drug awareness campaign that: takes into account the association between prescription opioid abuse and heroin use, and emphasizes the similarities between heroin and prescription opioids and the effects of these on the human body.

Date: 2014-06-19
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Health
Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act of 2014 or the FAIR Act - Amends the federal criminal code to increase the federal government's burden of proof in civil forfeiture proceedings to clear and convincing evidence. Requires the government, in addition to showing a substantial connection between the seized property and the offense in a forfeiture proceeding, to establish by clear and convincing evidence that the owner of any interest in the seized property intentionally used the property in connection with the offense or knowingly consented or was willfully blind to the use of the property by another in connection with the offense.

Requires proceeds from the disposition of forfeited property to be deposited into the General Fund of the Treasury, rather than to Department of Justice (DOJ) accounts for law enforcement activities.

Date: 2014-07-23
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Reclassification to Ensure Smarter and Equal Treatment Act of 2014 or the RESET Act - Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to reduce penalties (to not greater than a one-year term of imprisonment and/or a $1,000 fine) for simple possession of a controlled substance by a person who has one or more prior convictions for a controlled substance offense. Repeals a provision providing for up to three years' imprisonment for the possession of flunitrazepam. Reduces the maximum term of imprisonment (to one year) for the sale, use of the mails to transport, or importation or exportation of drug paraphernalia.

Eliminates provisions of the CSA and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act that apply the same penalties applicable to offenses involving a specified amount of a substance containing cocaine to offenses involving a lesser amount of a substance containing cocaine base.

Amends the CSA to provide that in determining the weight of a controlled substance or mixture of controlled substances that is in a compound with a food product for purposes of provisions concerning controlled substance offenses, the weight of the food product shall not be included.

Date: 2014-07-24
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Ensuring Safe Access to Prescription Medication Act of 2014 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to modify the definition of "dispense" to include the delivery of a controlled substance by a pharmacy to a practitioner, if: (1) such delivery is pursuant to a patient-specific prescription of the practitioner; and (2) the practitioner has deemed that it is medically necessary, acting in the usual course of professional practice, for the controlled substance to be administered by the practitioner to the patient.

Date: 2014-09-16
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Regulatory Transparency, Patient Access, and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2014 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to direct the Attorney General, within 45 days of receiving a recommendation from the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to add a drug or substance that has never been marketed in the United States to a schedule of controlled substances, to issue an interim final rule under the exception for good cause, placing it into the schedule recommended, effective immediately.

Allows a person who submits an application for registration to manufacture or distribute a controlled substance to indicate on the registration application that the substance will be used only in connection with clinical trials of a drug. Requires the Attorney General to: (1) make a final decision on such application within 180 days, or (2) provide written notice to the applicant of the outstanding issues that must be resolved to reach a final decision and the estimated date on which such decision will be made.

Defines: (1) "factors as may be relevant to and consistent with the public health and safety," and (2) "imminent danger to the public health or safety."

Requires an order to show cause as to why a registration should not be denied, revoked, or suspended to notify the registrant of the opportunity to submit a corrective action plan on or before the date of appearance before the Attorney General. Requires the Attorney General, upon review of any such plan, to determine whether denial, revocation, or suspension proceedings should be discontinued or deferred for purposes of modification or clarification of such plan. Makes these requirements inapplicable to the issuance of an immediate suspension order.

Directs the Secretary, acting through the Commissioner of Food and Drugs (FDA) and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to identify: (1) obstacles to legitimate patient access to controlled substances; (2) issues with diversion of controlled substances; and (3) how collaboration between federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies and the pharmaceutical industry can benefit patients and prevent diversion and abuse of controlled substances.

Date: 2014-09-18
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
No More Tulias: Drug Law Enforcement Evidentiary Standards Improvement Act of 2015

This bill prohibits a state from receiving for a fiscal year any drug control and system improvement (Byrne) grant funds under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, or any amount from any other federal law enforcement assistance program, unless the state does not fund any antidrug task forces for that fiscal year or it has in effect laws that ensure that: (1) a person is not convicted of a drug offense unless the fact that a drug offense was committed and the person's commission of the offense are supported by evidence other than the eyewitness testimony of a law enforcement officer or those acting on an officer's behalf, and (2) an officer may participate in an antidrug task force only if that officer's honesty and integrity are evaluated and found to be at an appropriately high level.

 States receiving federal funds under this bill are directed to collect data on the racial distribution of drug charges, the nature of the criminal law specified in the charges, and the jurisdictions in which such charges are made.

Date: 2015-01-06
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
States' Medical Marijuana Property Rights Protection Act

 Exempts real property from civil forfeiture under the Controlled Substances Act due to medical marijuana-related conduct that is authorized by state law.

Date: 2015-01-09
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2015

 (Sec. 2) Amends the Controlled Substances Act to define: (1) "factors as may be relevant to and consistent with the public health and safety," for purposes of the Attorney General's determination of whether registering an applicant to manufacture or distribute a controlled substance in schedule I or II is in the public interest, as factors that are relevant to and consistent with the findings of such Act; and (2) "imminent danger to the public health or safety," for purposes of the suspension of such a registration, to mean that in the absence of an immediate suspension order, controlled substances will continue to be distributed or dispensed by a registrant who knows or should know through fulfilling the obligations of the registrant under this Act that the dispensing is outside the usual course of professional practice, the distribution or dispensing poses a present or foreseeable risk of adverse health consequences or death due to the abuse or misuse of the controlled substances, or the controlled substances will continue to be diverted outside of legitimate distribution channels.

Requires an order to show cause as to why such a registration should not be denied, revoked, or suspended to: (1) contain a statement of the basis for the denial, revocation, or suspension, including specific citations to any laws or regulations alleged to be violated; (2) direct the applicant or registrant to appear before the Attorney General at a specific place and time within 30 days after receipt of the order; and (3) notify the applicant or registrant of the opportunity to submit a corrective action plan on or before such appearance. Requires the Attorney General, upon review of any such plan, to determine whether denial, revocation, or suspension proceedings should be discontinued or deferred for purposes of modifications to such plan. Makes such requirements inapplicable to the issuance of an immediate suspension order.

(Sec. 3) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Commissioner of Food and Drugs and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to submit a report identifying: (1) obstacles to legitimate patient access to controlled substances; (2) issues with diversion of controlled substances; and (3) how collaboration between federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies and the pharmaceutical industry can benefit patients and prevent diversion and abuse of controlled substances.

Date: 2015-01-22
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2015

 Amends the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of "marihuana." Defines "industrial hemp" to mean the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of such plant, whether growing or not, with a delta-nine tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis. Deems Cannabis sativa L. to meet that concentration limit if a person grows or processes it for purposes of making industrial hemp in accordance with state law.

Date: 2015-01-26
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act of 2015 or the FAIR Act 

This bill modifies general rules governing civil forfeiture proceedings to: (1) ensure that a person contesting a civil forfeiture has legal representation without regard to whether the property subject to forfeiture is being used by such person as a primary residence; (2) increase the federal government's burden of proof in civil forfeiture proceedings to clear and convincing evidence; (3) require the government, in addition to showing a substantial connection between the seized property and an offense, to establish by clear and convincing evidence that the owner of any interest in the seized property used the property with intent to facilitate the offense or knowingly consented or was willfully blind to the use of the property by another in connection with the offense; and (4) expand the proportionality criteria used by a court to determine whether a civil forfeiture was constitutionally excessive.

To remove incentives for carrying out civil forfeitures, the bill requires proceeds from the disposition of seized property to be deposited into the General Fund of the Treasury, rather than to Department of Justice accounts for law enforcement activities.

The bill adds a scienter requirement (i.e., a knowing violation) to the prohibition against structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements.

The bill requires: (1) a court to conduct a probable cause hearing to determine if there is a violation of the prohibition against structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements involving a monetary instrument and to return such instrument if probable cause is not established, and (2) the Attorney General to specify in reports to Congress and the public on forfeitures the amounts received from criminal and civil forfeitures.

Date: 2015-01-27
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Smarter Sentencing Act of 2015

 Amends the federal criminal code to direct the court to impose a sentence for specified controlled substance offenses without regard to any statutory minimum sentence if the court finds that the criminal history category for the defendant is not higher than category two. (Currently, the court may disregard the statutory minimum if the defendant does not have more than one criminal history point.)

Authorizes a court that imposed a sentence for a crack cocaine possession or trafficking offense committed before August 3, 2010, on motion of the defendant, the Bureau of Prisons, the attorney for the government, or the court, to impose a reduced sentence as if provisions of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 were in effect at the time such offense was committed, provided such sentence was not previously imposed or reduced under such Act or such a motion wasn't previously denied.

Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (CSIEA) to reduce mandatory minimum sentences for manufacturing, distributing, dispensing, possessing, importing, or exporting specified controlled substances and for such violations by a courier (defined as a person whose role was limited to transporting or storing drugs or money).

Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and amend its guidelines and policy statements applicable to persons convicted of such an offense under the CSA and CSIEA to ensure consistency with this Act and to consider specified factors, including: (1) its mandate to formulate guidelines to minimize the likelihood that the federal prison population will exceed federal prison capacity, and (2) the need to reduce and prevent racial disparities in sentencing.

Requires the Attorney General to: (1) report on how the reduced expenditures on federal corrections and cost savings resulting from this Act will be used to help reduce overcrowding in the Bureau of Prisons, increase investment in law enforcement and crime prevention, and reduce recidivism; (2) report a list of all criminal statutory offenses and the potential criminal penalty, the number of prosecutions brought by the Department of Justice each year for the previous 15 years, and the mens rea requirement for each offense; and (3) establish a publicly accessible index of each criminal statutory offense.

Date: 2015-02-12
Topic: Law and Crime (Illegal Drugs)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement