BILL NUMBER:  SB 62
  VETOED	DATE: 09/27/2013




To the Members of the California State Senate:

I am returning Senate Bill 62 without my signature.

The bill would require a county coroner to make a report to the
Medical Board whenever a Schedule II, III or IV drug was found to be
the cause of death.

While I am concerned about the harm caused by prescription drug
misuse and overdose, the bill creates an unfunded mandate for the
state, potentially in the millions of dollars.

Instead, I am signing SB 670, which gives the Medical Board better
access to information needed to investigate suspicious deaths.  I am
also signing SB 809, which modestly increases practitioners'
licensing fees to fund a sorely needed overhaul of the state's
Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System and
Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.

I expect that these measures, along with more vigorous efforts by the
Board, will help detect and prevent prescription drug abuse without
further burdening taxpayers.


Sincerely,



Edmund G. Brown Jr.