SCHUMER ANNOUNCES, AFTER HIS PUSH, DEA HAS FINALIZED RX DRUG DISPOSAL REGULATIONS; NEW RULE AUTHORIZES NEW YORK CITY PHARMACIES TO SAFELY COLLECT & DISPOSE OF HIGHLY-ADDICTIVE PAINKILLER DRUGS, AND WILL HELP GET LEFT-OVER Rx DRUGS OUT OF MEDICINE CABINETS & AWAY FROM POTENTIAL CRIMINALS
At Long Island & Staten Island Pharmacies Last Year, Schumer Highlighted
that Drug Take-Back Days Get Addictive Rx Drugs Out of Medicine Cabinets,
Yet Federal Regulations Had Prevented Pharmacies Around the State From
Hosting Them – 70% of those Addicted to Rx Drugs Get them From Home,
Family, or Friends, According to CDC
Schumer Urged DEA To Establish Rules To Allow New York City Pharmacies
& Other DEA Registrants To Take Back Consumers’ Prescription
Drugs, Given Uptick in Drug-Related Residential Burglaries Across NY –
New DEA Rules Expand Ability to Get Dangerous Drugs Off the Street
Schumer: Drug Take- Back Programs Reduce Crime, Safely Dispose of Dangerous
Drugs & Save Lives
Earlier this week, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that, following his push, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has approved regulations that would finally allow pharmacies and community organizations the opportunity to become authorized collectors of left-over prescription drugs. Schumer explained that the new rules allow a pharmacy to register with the DEA and put a drop box at their facility that people can use to dispose of old prescriptions whenever they are at the store. Previously, this process had to be orchestrated by the DEA and was only done a couple of times a year at most. The Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which Schumer cosponsored, required the DEA to establish these regulations, and Schumer urged the DEA last year to speed up its rule-making process. Prior to the passage of the act, there were no legal provisions for consumers to dispose of unwanted pharmaceutical controlled substances. Schumer said that these new rules will be extremely important in helping to curb the prescription drug epidemic. He noted that, nationwide, 70% of those addicted to prescription drugs get them from homes, and only 5% get them from a drug dealer, according to the Centers for Disease Control. At present, drug take-back events are infrequent and can be inconvenient, which Schumer said was not enough to take prescription drugs off the streets and help dispose the medications responsibly. Now, prescription drug take-backs will be more frequent, which will help get more of these highly-addictive pills out of medicine cabinets.
“Prescription drug abuse is a huge issue across New York State, from college campuses, to street corners and your neighbor’s home. What’s more, these drugs have become a major target for burglars, who now go digging in the medicine cabinet in search of leftover pills before they reach for the jewelry box. That is why it is important that we do everything we can to keep these drugs out of the wrong hands,” said Schumer. "I thank the DEA for finally heeding my call to finalize these important drug take-back regulations. Now, local pharmacies and other certified DEA registrants can accept dangerous left-over prescription drugs. This is a huge step in the right direction as we fight prescription drug abuse. I have also urged the DEA to fund buy-back events to further incentivize consumers to get their drugs off the street, and will continue to push to fund these type of programs."
Until this rule change, the DEA has hosted one to two national take back days per year, events that have been hugely successful. However, thanks to a bill Schumer cosponsored, the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, the DEA has the ability to amend regulations to “allow public and private entities to develop a method of collection and disposal of controlled substances”, through events like take-back events, mail-back programs and collection receptacle locations. During visits to pharmacies in Orange County, Rensselaer, Westchester, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, Schumer highlighted the issue of prescription drug abuse and urged the DEA to amend federal regulations, so pharmacy led take-backs could move forward. Schumer urged the DEA to take a bill passed by the New York State legislature in 2013, and signed by the Governor, certifying participating pharmacies to hold take-back events and provide take-back receptacles, into consideration when developing new regulations. And Schumer urged the DEA to do everything possible to expedite this process because the New York State law could not be fully implemented until the DEA amended its federal regulation.
Schumer said that these prescription drug take-back programs help ensure people’s safety. Schumer cited local detectives around the state who have said that many times when homes are broken into, thieves are stealing prescription medication. Even more alarming, many of these burglaries occur while the residents are home, since the criminals are often in a state of desperation, in need of feeding their addiction. Schumer explained that this authorization for an expanded take-back program could help reduce crime rates by making prescription drugs less prevalent.
Schumer also noted that proper disposal of prescription drugs is important for environmental reasons because individuals will sometimes dispose of medications by flushing them down the toilet, which can adversely affect local water sources. Schumer made the case that more frequent and convenient take-back drug programs would get more and more prescription drugs off the streets.
Schumer has long supported measures to combat prescription drug abuse. Just last week, Schumer announced that the DEA had heeded his call and will publish a final rule that changes the scheduling designation of hydrocodone from a schedule III to a schedule II, meaning there will be greater control over the prescription of the drug. The new classification will go into effect in 45 days and will impose greater restrictions in how doctors can prescribe hydrocodone and the quantity that can be prescribed. The scheduling system, which is overseen by the DEA, classifies drugs based on their medical use and their potential for abuse and addiction. Schumer has long fought to achieve this reclassification, in an effort to help combat an unprecedented spike in prescription drug abuse in New York State and the country. In October 2013, Schumer announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved, at his urging, regulations that would make it harder to access painkillers that contain hydrocodone. Following this major approval, the FDA requested the DEA make this final change so that it might be enforced.