STAND. COM. REP. NO. 789

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 808

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 808 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PRESCRIPTION DRUGS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Authorize pharmacies to accept the return of any prescription drug for disposal via collection receptacles or mail-back programs;

(2) Prohibit pharmacies from re-dispensing returned prescription drugs or from accepting returned prescription drugs in exchange for cash or credit; and

(3) Require the pharmacist-in-charge to ensure that only authorized reverse distributors acquire prescription drugs collected via collection receptacles or mail-back programs.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health; Department of Public Safety; Board of Pharmacy; University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy; Hawaii State Opioid Law Enforcement Organization/First Responder Working Group; Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition; CVS Health; Hawaii Medical Service Association; Walgreen Co.; O‘ahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i; and seven individuals.

Your Committee finds that unused medications in households and at various patient care facilities expose residents to potential harm due to mistaken ingestion and increase the potential for theft and assault. Annually, more than seventy-one thousand children under the age of nineteen are admitted to emergency rooms for unintentional overdoses of prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Your Committee further finds that keeping unused opioids or other common drugs of misuse in homes is no longer safe or responsible. Disposal of unwanted, expired, or unnecessary prescription drugs reduces the risk of overdose, prevents unused or unwanted drugs or controlled substances from being diverted to an unintentional user, and avoids contaminating landfills and oceans. This measure helps address the nationwide opioid epidemic, promotes patient safety, and helps to reduce the number of incidences of children and pets accessing these medications.

Your Committee has amended this measure by making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 808, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 808, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,

________________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair