Bill Authorizing Secure Controlled Substance Disposal Methods Passes Senate

August 12, 2010 11:13 AM

The Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010 (S. 3397) (PDF), passed in the United States Senate on August 3, 2010, and, if passed in the House and signed into law, would allow public and private entities to develop methods for secure take-back disposal of prescription controlled substances. Specifically, this act would amend the Controlled Substances Act to give the attorney general authority to promulgate regulations to “allow patients to deliver unused pharmaceutical controlled substances to appropriate entities for disposal in a safe and effective manner consistent with effective controls against diversion.” The law would also allow for the authorization of controlled substance disposal by long-term health care facilities on behalf of patients.

As explained in the bill, secure disposal of controlled substance medications would help to combat the growing problem of prescription drug abuse by preventing the diversion of unused medications. Teens abusing prescription medications, for example, often pilfer unused drugs from the medicine cabinets of friends and family, as explained in a January 2009 NABP Newsletter (PDF) article. The need for secure means to dispose of unused prescription controlled substances was addressed at the NABP 106th Annual Meeting CPE session, “The Controlled Substances Act – A New Frontier.”