BILL NUMBER: AB 2592	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 11, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 18, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Cooper

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2016

   An act to add and repeal Section 11209.3 of the Health and Safety
Code, relating to controlled substances.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2592, as amended, Cooper. Controlled substances: medicine
locking closure packages: grant program.
   Existing law, the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act,
specifies the proper uses of, and means of prescribing, controlled
substances, as defined. Existing law prohibits a person other than a
pharmacist to compound, prepare, fill, or dispense 
 or an intern pharmacist, as specified, from compounding,
preparing, filling, or dispensing  a prescription for a
controlled substance. A violation of these provisions is generally a
misdemeanor unless another punishment is specifically provided.
   Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health,
which has authority over various programs promoting public health and
which may investigate, apply for, and enter into agreements to
secure federal or  nonfederal   nongovernmental
 funding opportunities for the purposes of advancing public
health.
   This bill, until January 1,  2022,   2020,
 would require the department to  implement the Opioid
Abuse Prevention Pilot Program   establish a pilot
program, as specified,  to award grants to combat opioid abuse
 and improve   through  the safe
prescribing of opioids. The bill would require the department to
award grants, in an amount to be determined by the department, to
individual pharmacies that choose to  participate. 
 participate in the program.  The bill would require a
pharmacy that applies for and receives a grant to offer all patients
who are prescribed an opioid a medicine locking closure package, as
defined. The bill would prohibit the department from using General
Fund moneys on this program unless those moneys are specifically
appropriated for this purpose. The bill would require the department
to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and report its findings
to the Legislature no later than December 31,  2021.
  2019. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) More than 4,300 people died from drug poisoning in California
in 2013.
   (b) Most drug poisonings stem from prescription medications, and
opioids are the most commonly prescribed.
   (c) Recent research by the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention finds that 98 percent of all sources for abused
prescription drugs originate within the home. Only 3 percent of homes
lock up their medications.
   (d) The State Department of Public Health recently received a new
grant of more than $3.7 million to improve the safe prescribing of
opioid painkillers.
  SEC. 2.  Section 11209.3 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
   11209.3.  (a) The State Department of Public Health shall, to the
extent funding is available, establish  the Opioid Abuse
Prevention Pilot Program   a pilot program  to
award grants to combat opioid abuse  and improve 
 through  the safe prescribing of opioids. Grants, in an
amount determined by the department, shall be awarded to individual
pharmacies that choose to  participate.  
participate in the program.  Grants shall target areas where the
prevalence of prescription drug abuse is high as determined by data
that  has   have  been collected by the
department and the California Health Care Foundation.
   (b) A pharmacy that applies for and receives a grant pursuant to
this section shall offer all patients who are prescribed an opioid
 with  a medicine locking closure package. A patient
shall not receive a medicine locking closure package unless he or
she consents either orally or in writing. Every medicine locking
closure package shall be dispensed with instructions for patient use
unless the patient indicates orally or in writing that instructions
are not needed.
   (c) The State Department of Public Health shall not expend General
Fund moneys on this program unless those moneys are specifically
appropriated for this purpose. The department may seek funds from
private entities, including foundations and nonprofit organizations,
and may apply for federal or other grants, to fund the grant program.

   (d) For purposes of this section, "medicine locking closure
package" means a locking closure  mechanism that can only be
unlocked with a user-generated, resettable alphanumerical code in
combination with an amber prescription container that forms a package
that only allows the person with the prescription to access the
medicine.   container, unlocked only with a
user-generated code, that only allows the person with the
prescription to access the medicine. A medicine locking closure
package includes, but is not limited to, an amber prescription
container combined with a resettable alphanumerical code. 
   (e) The department shall evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot
program to combat prescription drug abuse in targeted areas and
report its findings to the Legislature no later than December 31,
 2021.   2019.  The report shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
   (f)  This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
 2022,   2020,  and as of that date is
repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before
January 1,  2022,   2020,  deletes or
extends that date.