TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending July 29, 2005

H.R.1132 To provide for the establishment of a controlled substance monitoring program in each State.

BRIEF

   The bill requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award one-year grants to approved States for the purpose of establishing or improving a State controlled substance monitoring program, the bill summary concluded. The Secretary would also have to establish standards of information security, penalties and information use for a State to become eligible for the grant.

   The program would attempt to thwart various ways controlled substances (narcotic and synthetic narcotic painkillers for the most part.) are gotten by circumventing the processes that safeguard against non-prescribed use of the drugs. A database would be created containing information that could be provided to law enforcement and other appropriate officials. Those who dispense the narcotics would report to the State database within a week of dispensing a controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject, the summary said.

   The Secretary must specify a uniform electronic format for reporting and distributing the information, give preference to approved States when distributing grants and produce a study to Congress on how well the system works, privacy protections and the possibility of upgrading the sytem to real-time monitoring.

Sponsor: Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY-1^st)

Vote: Passed House by voice vote (July 27, 2005)

Cost to the taxpayers: $60 million through 2010.

## All Rights Reserved. © 2005 TheWeekInCongress.com No reproduction or distribution without written permission from TheWeekInCongress.com.