H.R. 501 — Introduced in House

I 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 501 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 25, 2023Mrs. Harshbarger (for herself and Mrs. Dingell) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Controlled Substances Act to require registrants to decline to fill certain suspicious orders, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Block, Report, And Suspend Suspicious Shipments Act . 2. Block, report, and suspend suspicious orders (a) Clarification of process for registrants To exercise due diligence upon discovering a suspicious order Paragraph (3) of section 312(a) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 832(a)) is amended to read as follows: (3) upon discovering a suspicious order or series of orders, and in a manner consistent with the other requirements of this section— (A) exercise due diligence as appropriate; (B) establish and maintain (for not less than a period to be determined by the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration) a record of the due diligence that was performed; (C) decline to fill the order or series of orders if the due diligence fails to dispel all of the indicators that give rise to the suspicion that, if the order or series of orders is filled, the drugs that are the subject of the order or series of orders are likely to be diverted; and (D) notify the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Special Agent in Charge of the Division Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration for the area in which the registrant is located or conducts business of— (i) each suspicious order or series of orders discovered by the registrant; and (ii) the indicators giving rise to the suspicion that, if the order or series of orders is filled, the drugs that are the subject of the order or series of orders are likely to be diverted. . (b) Resolution of suspicious indicators Section 312 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 832) is amended— (1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections (c) and (d), respectively; and (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following: (b) Resolution of suspicious indicators If a registrant resolves all of the indicators giving rise to suspicion about an order or series of orders under subsection (a)(3)— (1) notwithstanding subsection (a)(3)(C), the registrant may choose to fill the order or series of orders; and (2) notwithstanding subsection (a)(3)(D), the registrant may choose not to make the notification otherwise required by such subsection. . (c) Regulations Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, for purposes of subsections (a)(3) and (b) of section 312 of the Controlled Substances Act, as amended or inserted by subsection (a), the Attorney General of the United States shall promulgate a final regulation specifying the indicators that give rise to a suspicion that, if an order or series of orders is filled, the drugs that are the subject of the order or series of orders are likely to be diverted. (d) Penalty Section 402(a)(5) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 842(a)(5)) is amended by inserting before the semicolon at the end the following: or otherwise violates section 312(a)(3). (e) Applicability Subsections (a)(3) and (b) of section 312 of the Controlled Substances Act, as amended or inserted by subsection (a), shall apply beginning on the day that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. Until such day, section 312(a)(3) of the Controlled Substances Act shall apply as such section 312(a)(3) was in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act.