Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act

Floor Speech

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues for their support in passing S. 3397, the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act by unanimous consent this week. I thank the Senate cosponsors of this bill--Senator Grassley, Senator Brown of Ohio, Senator Gillibrand, Senator Collins, Senator Corker, Senator Feingold, Senator Kohl, Senator Schumer and Senator Durbin. I especially thank my lead cosponsor, Senator Cornyn, and his counsel Gustav Eyler for their significant efforts on behalf of this important legislation.

When the Drug Enforcement Administration brought this issue to my attention, I was eager to work on it because this is such a commonsense bill.

We know that prescription drug abuse is on the rise and what is even scarier is that it is on the rise among teenagers. In fact, teens abuse prescription drugs more than any illicit drug besides marijuana. And according to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, 55 percent of teens say that it is easy to get prescription drugs from their parents' medicine cabinets. We also know that up to 17 percent of all prescription drug medication goes unused each year.

This bill is an important step towards getting unused, unwanted or expired medication off families' shelves and into the hands of proper authorities. The bill makes it possible for State and local law enforcement ``take-back'' programs to accept controlled substances as well, which is something that is currently very difficult for them to do. I introduced this legislation because I believe we have to give families a better option than either leaving dangerous medication in their homes or flushing such medication into the water supply.

Parents know that keeping unwanted prescription drugs in their homes increases the risk that young people will find them, but current law provides them with few alternatives. By making it easier for people to dispose of controlled substances they no longer need, we can reduce teens' access to these drugs and help curb teen drug abuse. This bill amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow the Attorney General to draft regulations permitting authorized entities to accept and dispose of controlled substances. These regulations will enable state, local, and private entities to operate drug take-back programs for all prescription drugs, while taking the necessary steps to prevent unlawful diversion and promote safe disposal.

Senator Cornyn recounts with great specificity the provisions of this bill that were added after consultation with many of our House colleagues and their staffs. I want to mention those members whose contributions to this bill have improved it greatly: Representatives HENRY WAXMAN, JOE BARTON, JAY INSLEE, BART STUPAK, and LAMAR SMITH. I am grateful to their offices for working with us to get this bill to a place where it could obtain the unanimous support of the U.S. Senate, and I second Senator Cornyn's comments about the specific contributions of each of those individuals and their offices.

The provisions that we added after collaboration with House offices, along with the bill's ``no cost'' estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, are among the many reasons the bill enjoys the support of 41 State attorneys general, the Department of Justice, and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. They also prove that this bill is bicameral in its design, as well as bipartisan.

I want to thank all of my colleagues again for their support.

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