First Regular Session Sixty-seventh General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO INTRODUCED LLS NO. 09-0174.01 Nancy Dalien HOUSE BILL 09-1032 HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Liston, SENATE SPONSORSHIP (None), House Committees Senate Committees Health and Human Services A BILL FOR AN ACT Concerning a requirement for photo identification in order to receive delivery of a controlled substance prescription. Bill Summary (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not necessarily reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted.) Directs a pharmacist to require a photo identification from a person seeking to fill a prescription for a schedule II through IV controlled substance. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado: SECTION 1. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly hereby finds that: (a) There has been an increase across the nation in acquiring legally obtainable drugs through illegal channels, including prescription fraud, and numerous studies show an increase in prescription drug abuse by juveniles; (b) In 2008, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported that: (I) Nearly seven million Americans were abusing prescription drugs, which is more than the number who were abusing cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, ecstasy, and inhalants combined, and is an eighty percent increase since the year 2000; (II) Prescription pain relievers were new drug users' drugs of choice versus marijuana or cocaine, and opioid pain relievers caused more drug overdose deaths than cocaine and heroin combined; (III) Nearly one in ten high school seniors admitted to abusing powerful prescription pain relievers, and about forty percent of teens and their parents surveyed thought abusing prescription pain relievers was safer than abusing illegal drugs; (IV) Misuse of pain relievers represented three-fourths of the overall problem of prescription drug abuse, with hydrocodone being the most commonly diverted and abused prescription drug in the United States; (V) Twenty-five percent of drug-related emergency room visits were associated with abuse of prescription drugs; and (VI) Methods of acquiring prescription drugs for abuse included traditional drug dealing, theft from pharmacies or homes, illicit purchase via the internet, enlisting the aid of friends or relatives, and "doctor shopping" through which an individual sees multiple doctors to obtain multiple prescriptions of a controlled narcotic; (c) The DEA works closely with individuals working in the medical community to help them recognize drug abuse and signs of diversion and relies on their input and due diligence to combat diversion; (d) Doctor involvement in illegal drug activity is rare. Less than one-tenth of one percent of more than seven hundred fifty thousand doctors are the subjects of DEA investigations each year. Egregious drug violations by practitioners unfortunately do occur, and the DEA pursues criminal actions against such practitioners. (e) DEA internet drug trafficking initiatives over the past three years have identified and dismantled organizations based both in the United States and overseas, arrested dozens of conspirators, and seized tens of millions of dosage units of prescription drugs and tens of millions of dollars in assets; (f) The Colorado Springs Police Department Metro Vice, Narcotics and Intelligence Division (CSPD Metro VNI) initiated one hundred prescription fraud cases in 2007 and sixty-four prescription fraud cases in 2008; (g) In 2007, CSPD Metro VNI also started giving verbal warnings for first-time "doctor-shopping" offenses, lowering the number of initiated cases; and (h) CSPD Metro VNI cases of prescription fraud have shown that a suspect will often call in a fraudulent prescription to a pharmacy using a false name or use a false name on a written prescription he or she has stolen from a doctor's office or created on a computer. (2) The general assembly therefore concludes that requiring individuals to show photo identification for the delivery of certain controlled narcotic prescriptions will help to prevent the acquisition of legally obtainable drugs through illegal channels, thus benefitting law enforcement across the state. SECTION 2. 12-22-122, Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SUBSECTION to read: 12-22-122. Prescription required - exception. (1.5) (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection (1.5), before delivering a schedule II through IV controlled substance, as described in part 2 of article 18 of title 18, C.R.S., a pharmacist shall require the person purchasing the controlled substance to show picture identification. The pharmacist shall: (I) In the case of a written prescription, document in ink on the back of the prescription the person's full name, address, and telephone number and retain the information for the period required by United States drug enforcement administration rules and regulations; or (II) In the case of a phoned-in or computer-generated prescription, document in ink on the form generated for the phoned-in or computer-generated prescription the person's full name, address, and telephone number and retain the information for the period required by United States drug enforcement administration rules and regulations. (b) If the person to whom the controlled substance is delivered has no picture identification and the pharmacist determines that an emergency exists and the controlled substance is needed for the immediate well-being of the patient for whom the controlled substance is prescribed, a pharmacist may deliver the controlled substance. However, a pharmacist shall comply with the documentation requirements specified in paragraph (a) of this subsection (1.5). SECTION 3. Applicability. This act shall apply to schedule II through IV controlled substance prescriptions delivered on or after the effective date of this act. SECTION 4. Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.