BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 484|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 484
Author: Wright (D)
Amended: 5/12/09
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 6-1, 4/28/09
AYES: Leno, Benoit, Cedillo, Hancock, Steinberg, Wright
NOES: Huff
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-5, 5/28/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza,
Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Runner, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wolk
SUBJECT : Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine
SOURCE : Attorney Generals Office
DIGEST : This bill provides that any person who obtains
ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and specified related drugs
without a prescription, as specified, shall be guilty of an
infraction or misdemeanor.
ANALYSIS : Existing law classifies controlled substances
into five schedules, with the most restrictive limitations
placed on controlled substances classified in Schedule I,
and the least restrictive limitations placed on controlled
substances classified in Schedule V. A controlled
substance in any of the schedules may be possessed or
CONTINUED
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dispensed only upon a lawful prescription, as specified.
Existing law does not classify ephedrine, pseudoephedrine,
and specified related drugs within any of these five
schedules, but provides that it is a crime, punishable as
specified, for a person in this state who engages in
specified transactions involving those drugs to fail to
submit a report to the Department of Justice of all of
those transactions, or to fail to submit an application to,
and obtain a permit for the conduct of that business from,
the Department of Justice, as specified.
This bill provides in addition, that any person who obtains
ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and specified related drugs
without a prescription, as specified, shall be guilty of an
infraction or a misdemeanor. The bill makes conforming
changes to related provisions.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
Potential revenue loss
Sales Tax $345-4,350$435-4,350
$435-4,350 General
PERS Unknown, potential indirect costs to
Premiums
Potential savings
CDCR ($1,989-$3,979) ($1,989-$3,979)
($1,989-$3,979) General
Toxic Substance ($500-1,000) ($500-1,000)
($500-1,000) General
control
Bureau of ($500-1,200) ($500-1,200)
($500-1,200) General
Forensic Services
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/28/09)
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Attorney General's Office (source)
California Correctional Supervisors Organization
California Fraternal Order of Police
California Narcotic Officers' Association
California Peace Officers' Association
California Pharmacists Association
California Police Chiefs Association
California Society of Health-System Pharmacists
California State Board of Pharmacy
California State Sheriffs Association
Department of Justice
Fresno County Board of Supervisors
Office of the District Attorney, City and County of San
Francisco
Office of the District Attorney, Sacramento County
Oregon Association Chiefs of Police
Oregon State Pharmacy Association
Oregon State Sheriffs Association
Long Beach Police Officers Association
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
Los Angeles County Police Chiefs Association
Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Peace Officers Research Association of California
San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department
San Francisco District Attorney
Santa Ana Police Officers Association
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/28/09)
Association of California Life and Health Insurance
Companies
California Grocers Association
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
California Public Defenders Association
California Retailers Association
Consumer Healthcare Products Association
Friends Committee on Education
Health Net
Healthcare Distribution Management Association
National Association of Chain Drugstores
Rite-Aid
Schering-Plough
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Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Peace Officers'
Association and the California Police Chiefs Association,
which support this bill states, this bill may be the most
important anti-methamphetamine bill ever introduced in
California. Currently, 90 percent of the methamphetamine
that is cooked in this state is produced from
pseudoephedrine that is sold in California retail outlets.
Clearly, California's current safeguards, as
well-intentioned as they were, have not worked.
This bill, which is patterned after the very successful
Oregon statute, will require that pseudoephedrine products
will only be sold via prescription. This will render
inoperative the sophisticated smurfing operations that,
today, can generate sufficient pseudeophedrine in one day
to produce a pound of methamphetamine.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Consumer Healthcare
Products Association argues in opposition, "Requiring
consumers to obtain a prescription to purchase PSE products
would impose substantial, and unnecessary, new costs on
consumers and the healthcare system. CHPA supported
(requiring) all PSE-containing OTCs to be sold from behind
the counter, limits purchases to 3.6 grams per day and 9
grams per 30 days, and requires purchaser signatures in a
logbook. California has yet to enact similar restrictions
that would give state and local law enforcement
jurisdiction to enforce these sales limits. Since the CMEA
and similar state restrictions took effect, there has been
a 61% nationwide drop in meth lab incidents. California's
lab incidents have been reduced by 86%, from a high of
2,579 incidents in 1999 to 349 lab incidents in 2008."
Millions of consumers still wait in line at the pharmacy
and subject themselves to state and federal criminal
prosecution if they exceed legal quantity limits to buy
PSE. This demonstrates that for many, PSE is the best
remedy even though reformulated products are available on
the shelves and are easier to obtain. Prescription status
for PSE would mean substantial new costs for these
consumers, measured in both time and money, to access
important and needed medicines.
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RJG:do 5/29/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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