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LEGISLATION

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Legislation

State legislation

State Representative Dawn Morrell and Senator Adam Kline introduced legislation - Senate Bill 5234 and House Bill 1370 - requiring producers of prescription and over-the-counter medicines to develop, manage and fund a statewide return program for unwanted household medicines.

Watch a short YourTube video from Representative Van De Wege and Representative Hudgins about the bill:

Under these producer responsibility bills, unwanted medicines will be securely collected and safely disposed to reduce access to medicines that may cause poisonings, be misused by our teens, or be disposed in a way that could enter the environment. The Washington State Board of Pharmacy would have oversight authority to ensure the security and safety of unwanted medicines and the convenience of the return service for residents.

This legislation, known as the Secure Medicine Take-back bill, is supported by 180 organizations, including the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program, King County, City of Seattle, Public Health-Seattle & King County, other local governments, law enforcement organizations, advocates for children and substance abuse prevention, health associations, environmental organizations, and others.

2011 Bill History:

SSB 5234 passed out of the Senate Health & Long-Term Care Committee and the Rules Committee, but did not receive a floor vote by the Legislature’s "crossover cut-off" deadline. HB 1370 received a hearing in the House Environment Committee, but was not moved out of committee. SSB 5234 and HB 1370 are now "carryover" bills that can be taken up again by the Legislature in the 2012 session.

For more information about legislation to require drug companies to provide and pay for a statewide medicine take-back program, email billinfo@takebackyourmeds.org. Or visit: http://www.takebackyourmeds.org/make-it-happen/proposed-state-law.

When manufacturers or producers of a product take responsibility for unwanted products that they’ve produced, it is known as producer responsibility or product stewardship.

Federal legislation

Currently, controlled substances (medicines that are subject to abuse or addition such as Vicoden, OxyContin and Ritalin) cannot be returned for disposal to anyone other than law enforcement. This will change because on September 29, 2010, the U.S. Congress unanimously passed a bill that helps Washington’s communities by removing this barrier. It paves the way to creating a statewide program to safely return and dispose of left-over meds. For more information, go to http://www.takebackyourmeds.org/make-it-happen/proposed-state-law/new-federal-bill.