AB 448

Under current law, a person may not, and it is often a crime to, deliver, receive,

or possess certain drugs unless the person is a licensed pharmacist or other licensed

practitioner or has a valid prescription for the drug.

Under this bill, the Department of Justice (DOJ) may authorize the operation

of drug disposal programs in this state to receive, for destruction, drugs, including

prescription drugs, controlled substances and controlled substance analogs, and

certain medical and drug delivery devices (collectively, pharmaceutical items). DOJ

may authorize a person to operate a drug disposal program if, among other things,

the person demonstrates to the satisfaction of DOJ that the program's receipt of

pharmaceutical items will comply with federal and state laws applicable to the

transportation and delivery of pharmaceutical items. The bill requires a drug

disposal program to adopt policies and procedures that describe in detail the place

and manner of the program's operation, provide the 24-hour contact information for

at least one person in this state who is responsible for the program, and ensure

compliance with applicable state and federal laws. DOJ must approve the policies

and procedures before a drug disposal program may begin operation.

The bill also provides that a city, village, town, or county (political subdivision)

may operate or authorize another person to operate a drug disposal program within

the political subdivision's borders. A drug disposal program that a political

subdivision operates or authorizes must adopt policies and procedures similar to

those described above, but the program need not obtain approval from DOJ.

However, without DOJ approval, the program may not receive pharmaceutical items

except by means of in-person delivery within the political subdivision's borders.

Finally, the bill authorizes a person who lawfully possesses a prescription drug,

or the person's guardian, trustee, or personal representative, to grant written

authorization to certain other persons to destroy the prescription drug. Under the

bill, such a written authorization is only valid if the authorization satisfies certain

conditions, including that the authorization describes the prescription drug with

reasonable specificity and that the authorization and the prescription drug were

obtained by the person authorized to destroy the prescription drug without the

payment of money or something else of value.