BILL ANALYSIS
AB 748
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 748 (Gilmore) - As Introduced: February 26, 2009
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 6-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill makes 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA/ecstasy)
a Schedule II controlled substance. Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes unlawful possession punishable by up to 1 year in county
jail, or by 16 months, 2 or 3 years in state prison.
2)Makes possession for sale punishable by 16 months, 2 or 3
years in state prison.
3)Makes sale punishable by two, three, or four years in state
prison.
FISCAL EFFECT
Negligible state and non-reimbursable local incarceration costs
as MDMA-related offenses are already punishable in like fashion
under the Health and Safety analog statutes, which make the
penalties for possession and sale of unscheduled analogs (drugs
whose physical structure is related to that of another drug) of
a substance the same as the substances themselves. Ecstasy is
an analog of methamphetamine.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author contends that the dangers of
MDMA/ecstasy warrant its delineation as a Schedule II
substance under state law and that authorizing prosecution of
MDMA as a controlled substance relieves the prosecution of the
burden of hiring a toxicologist to prove MDMA is a
methamphetamine analog.
AB 748
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The drug has been a Schedule I substance on the federal
schedule since 1988. As the penalties are already covered
under the analog statutes, there appears to be little
practical benefit to adding this substance to Schedule II,
other than potentially making it marginally easier for the
prosecution to make its case without having the additional
step of proving the analog status of the substance.
2)Current law makes the penalty for possession, possession for
sale, and sale of an analog of a controlled substance the same
as the penalty for the classified controlled substance, which
means penalties are not increased by this measure.
3)MDMA is an analog of methamphetamine with stimulant and
hallucinogenic effects in humans. It has no approved medical
use in the U.S. Patented in 1914 and intended as a weight-loss
drug, it was never marketed because of side effects. The
effects of MDMA include a heightened sense of awareness as
well as a feeling of increased empathy or emotional closeness
to others. The production of MDMA in clandestine laboratories,
increasing abuse among young people, and evidence of adverse
health effects, including brain damage, led to emergency
scheduling of MDMA as a Schedule I substance on the federal
Controlled Substance Act in 1988. Similar to
gamma-hydroxy-butyrate (GHB), MDMA/ecstasy is often used by
participants at "rave" parties. Law enforcement authorities
contend it has become increasingly available through high
school drug networks.
MDMA is usually taken orally in doses ranging from 50 to 150
mg. Doses of MDMA are often piggy-backed on each other in a
series over just a few hours, leading to severe over-heating
and cardiac emergencies.
4)The Schedule . California generally follows federal
classification.
a) Schedule I - High potential for abuse, no accepted
medical use in treatment in the U.S.
b) Schedule II - High potential for abuse with an accepted
medical use in the U.S. Abuse may lead to severe
psychological or physical dependence.
AB 748
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c) Schedule III - Less potential for abuse and an accepted
medical use in the U.S. Abuse may lead to moderate or low
physical or high psychological dependence.
d) Schedule IV - Low potential for abuse relative to
Schedule III, with an accepted medical use in the U.S.
Abuse may lead to limited physical or psychological
dependence.
e) Schedule V - Low potential for abuse relative to
Schedule IV with an accepted medical use in the U.S. Abuse
may lead to limited physical or psychological dependence.
5)Prior Legislation.
a) AB 57 (Bates), 2003-04, made MDMA a Schedule II
controlled substance. AB 2300 failed in the Senate Public
Safety.
b) AB 2300 (Bates), 2001-02, made MDMA a Schedule II
controlled substance. AB 2300 failed in the Senate Public
Safety.
c) AB 1416 (Leach), 2001-02, made MDMA a Schedule I
controlled substance. AB 1416 failed in Assembly
Appropriations.
d) SB 1103 (Margett), 2001-02, made MDMA a Schedule I
controlled substance. SB 1103 failed in Senate Public
Safety.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081