Statements On Introduced Bills And Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleagues, Senator Klobuchar, and Senator Feinstein, in introducing the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2009. The abuse of prescription narcotics such as pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives is currently the fastest growing drug abuse trend in the country. According to the most recent National Survey of Drug Use and Health, NSDUH, nearly 7 million people have admitted to using controlled substances without a doctor's prescription. People between the ages of 12 and 25 are the most common group to abuse these drugs. However, more and more people are dying because of this abuse. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that the unintentional deaths involving prescription narcotics increased 117 percent from the years 2001 to 2005. These are statistics that can no longer be ignored.

Millions of Americans are prescribed controlled substances every year to treat a variety of symptoms due to injury, depression, insomnia, and other conditions. Many legitimate users of these drugs often do not finish their prescriptions. As a result, these drugs remain in the family medicine cabinet for months or years because people forget about them or do not know how to properly dispose of them. However, these drugs, when not properly used or administered, are just as addictive and deadly as street drugs like methamphetamine or cocaine.

According to the NSDUH, more than half of the people who abuse prescription narcotics reported that they obtained controlled substances from a friend or relative or from the family medicine cabinet. As a result, most community anti-drug coalitions, public health officials, and law enforcement officials have been encouraging people within their communities to dispose of old or unused medications in an effort to combat this growing trend.

Despite these ongoing efforts across the country to eliminate a primary source of prescription narcotics from within their communities, many people are finding the Controlled Substances Act, CSA, is making these efforts difficult. When the CSA was passed in the early 1970's many people did not anticipate the large amount of prescription narcotics that would be used today or the high potential for these drugs to be diverted and abused. Under the CSA, most people who legally possess controlled substances cannot legally transfer them to anyone for any purpose, including for the purpose of disposal. Because the legal method for disposal is unclear, communities interested in providing citizens with an easy process of disposal hesitate to do so or risk violation of the CSA to offer the service. We need to change the CSA so that unused controlled substances do not get diverted in to the stream of illicit drug use and to prevent potential environmental harms, as many people dispose of controlled substances by flushing them down the toilet or dumping them in unlined landfills.

Accordingly, Senator Klobuchar, Senator Feinstein and I are introducing the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2009 to fix the CSA so these efforts to eradicate abuse are not impeded by federal law. This legislation will amend the CSA to allow a user to transfer unused controlled substances to a DEA sanctioned entity for disposal without mandating any specific method of disposal upon communities. This will enable communities to develop methods of disposal best suited for their areas while minimizing the pollution of water supplies or increasing the chances that these drugs will be diverted for abuse. Since most long-term care facilities store large amounts of prescription narcotics for their tenants but are unable to legally dispose of them the bill also enables these facilities to dispose of old medication on behalf of their past and current patients.

This legislation will not cost the government any money to implement and would not place any financial burden on states or industries. It simp ives local communities the option to safely dispose of unused controlled substances. I am pleased that the Department of Justice has endorsed this legislation. They and many others out there know how serious the abuse of prescription narcotics has become in this country. Now is the time to act, and I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting the Safe and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2009.

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