STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1365_______

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: S.B. No. 1160
                                     S.D. 2
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which
was referred S.B. No. 1160, S.D. 2, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to amend the Uniform Controlled
Substances Act to:

     (1)  Conform to changes in federal law;

     (2)  Add a new definition for the term "ephedrine";

     (3)  Update the record-keeping requirement for controlled
          substances from two years to five years;

     (4)  Standardize prescription script sizes;

     (5)  Expand the list of chemicals subject to mandatory
          reporting requirements; 

     (6)  Prevent the unauthorized use of Drug Enforcement Agency
          hospital numbers and internal codes;

     (7)  Remove the exemption for ephedrine products while
          creating an exemption for dietary supplements
          containing ephedrine alkaloids extracted from the plant
          ephedra;

 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1365_______
                                 Page 2

 

     (8)  Establish penalties for sellers of ephedrine products
          who make claims that consumption of the product will
          produce the effects of ecstasy, euphoria, increased
          sexual sensations, heightened awareness, increased
          energy, legal "highs" or other similar effects; and

     (9)  Increase the penalties for the sale or distribution of
          a regulated chemical without a permit or by a person
          convicted for the second time of a permit violation
          (section 329-67, Hawaii Revised Statutes).

     Testimony in support of the bill was received from the
Department of Public Safety and Longs Drugs.  Testimony in
opposition to the bill was received from the Dietary Safety and
Science Coalition.  Additional testimony was received from the
Department of Health, the Office of the Public Defender, the City
and County of Honolulu Police Department, and the Legislative
Information Service of Hawaii.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
bill by:

     (1)  Requiring that persons who sell or otherwise transfer
          into the state encapsulating or tableting machines keep
          records of each transaction for a period of two years;

     (2)  Clarifying that reporting requirements do not apply to
          manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, or other persons
          who sell or transfer into the State any over-the-
          counter drug product containing pseudoephedrine,
          norpseudoephedrine, phenylpropanolamine, or an
          ephedrine combination product below the cumulative
          threshold of one kilogram, and;

     (3)  Assisting physicians who have difficulty when
          reconciling ethical concerns for confidentiality with
          public safety and legal considerations regarding the
          disclosure of abuses of controlled substances by
          clarifying that information communicated to a physician
          in an effort to unlawfully procure a controlled
          substance is not a privileged communication.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to
this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and
purpose of S.B. No. 1160, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and
recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached
hereto as S.B. No. 1160, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the
Committee on Finance.

 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1365_______
                                 Page 3

 
                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Judiciary &
                                   Hawaiian Affairs,



                                   ______________________________
                                   PAUL T. OSHIRO, Chair