Bill Text: CA AB2859 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Pharmacy: safe storage products.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2018-08-28 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 240, Statutes of 2018. [AB2859 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB2859-Introduced.html


CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill No. 2859


Introduced by Assembly Member Caballero

February 16, 2018


An act to add Section 4106.5 to the Business and Professions Code, relating to pharmacy.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2859, as introduced, Caballero. Pharmacy: safe storage products.
Existing law, the Pharmacy Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of pharmacists and pharmacies by the California State Board of Pharmacy, which is within the Department of Consumer Affairs, and provides that a violation of that law is punishable as a misdemeanor.
This bill would require a chain community pharmacy or an independent community pharmacy that dispenses Schedule II, III, or IV controlled substances to display safe storage products within 50 feet of the counter from which those controlled substances are furnished and would require the pharmacy to make customers aware of the availability of the safe storage products by displaying a sign on or near the pharmacy counter that complies with specified requirements. The bill would require the board to assess a fine against a pharmacy for violation of these provisions, except that the bill would allow the board to choose not to take administrative action against a pharmacy if the board determines that compliance with the law would create a financial hardship on the pharmacy. The bill would specify that a violation of these provisions shall not be punishable as a misdemeanor. The bill would also define certain terms for these purposes.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Protecting Our Children and Adolescents from Opioids Act of 2018.

SEC. 2.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death by injury in the United States, outnumbering both traffic crashes and gun-related deaths.
(2) In 2015, there were 52,404 drug overdose deaths, with 33,091 of those deaths involving the use of opioids.
(3) Every day, 3,000 children 12 to 17 years of age abuse a prescription painkiller for the first time.
(4) The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the nonmedical use of prescription painkillers costs public and private health insurers $72.8 billion annually.
(5) The National Institute on Drug Abuse has found 90 percent of all teens who abuse pharmaceutical drugs obtain their drugs from their home medicine cabinet or from a friend’s medicine cabinet.
(6) Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that nearly 70 percent of prescription opioid medications kept in homes with children are not stored safely.
(7) Only 18 percent of providers have been estimated to discuss safe storage and disposal of drugs with their patients.
(8) The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids has found that one of the key drivers for abusing prescription painkillers amongst teens is easy access, with more than 3 in 5 teens stating that pain relievers were easy to obtain from their parents’ medicine cabinets.
(9) New reports have found that the number of emergency room visits for accidental poisoning amongst toddlers has tripled since 1997.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that increasing safe storage practices among parents is an important component to protecting teens and children from the dangers of opioid abuse and that the state must do more to encourage parents to safeguard these medications that are vital to managing certain chronic pain conditions among adults.

SEC. 3.

 Section 4106.5 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

4106.5.
 (a) For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(1) “Chain community pharmacy” has the same meaning as in subdivision (c) of Section 4001.
(2) “Independent community pharmacy” has the same meaning as in subdivision (c) of Section 4001.
(3) “Pharmacy” means either a chain community pharmacy or an independent community pharmacy.
(4) “Safe storage products” means either:
(A) A box made with the intent of storing medicine that includes a locking mechanism that cannot be tampered with or opened without extreme force.
(B) A medicine locking closure container accessible only by the designated patient with a passcode, an alphanumeric code, a key, or by another secure mechanism. A medicine locking closure container includes, but is not limited to, a prescription container combined with a resettable alphanumeric code.
(5)  “Schedule II, III, or IV controlled substances” means any substance defined as a Schedule II, III, or IV controlled substance in Sections 11055, 11056, and 11057 of the Health and Safety Code.
(b) A pharmacy that dispenses Schedule II, III, or IV controlled substances shall display safe storage products within 50 feet of the counter from which the Schedule II, III, or IV controlled substances are furnished.
(c) A pharmacy subject to subdivision (b) shall make customers aware of the availability of the safe storage products by displaying a sign on or near the pharmacy counter that complies with both of the following:
(1) Is at least 4 inches by 5 inches.
(2) Includes the following statement in legibly printed font: “Safe storage products for securing your prescription medications are available at this pharmacy.”
(d) (1) The board shall assess a fine in an amount to be determined by the board for a violation of this section.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the board may choose not to take administrative action against a pharmacy if it determines that compliance with this section would create a financial hardship on the pharmacy.
(e) Section 4321 shall not apply to a violation of this section.

feedback