WSB/2/6
Sponsored by Charles Cates, Myles Thomas of Lausanne Collegiate School
This legislation was filed in the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | BE IT ENACTED BY THE TENNESSEE YMCA YOUTH LEGISLATURE: |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Section 1) Terms in this act shall be defined as follows: |
| 4 | Opioid: A class of drugs that derive from or mimic natural substances found in the opium poppy |
| 5 | plant, including Hydrocodone (Vicodin), Oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet), Oxymorphone (Opana), |
| 6 | Morphine (Kadian, Avinza), Codeine, and Fentanyl. |
| 7 | Drop-box: A metal box where medication can be disposed of to be handled by waste services. The |
| 8 | box is made of a sturdy material with a locked container for the medication; this makes it |
| 9 | impossible for someone without a key to access the medication. |
| 10 | Medication Disposal: Safely getting rid of excess medication to prevent further use or misuse. |
| 11 | Extended Release Medication: Medication that slowly releases a drug in the body over a longer |
| 12 | period of time. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | Section 2) This act contains 2 main objectives: |
| 15 | To install medication drop-boxes in every pharmacy in Tennessee |
| 16 | To mandate that doctors prioritize extended release medication when prescribing highly addictive |
| 17 | medication |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Section 3) The drop-boxes will be installed under the following specifications: |
| 20 | The dimensions will be 15” in width, 15’’ in length, and 30” in height. |
| 21 | 1 drop-box will be installed in each of Tennessee’s roughly 1500 pharmacies. |
| 22 | The drop-boxes will be bolted to an inside wall of each pharmacy. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Section 4) All drop-box contents will be collected and disposed of in the same manner that the |
| 25 | pharmacy disposes of its other hazardous waste. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Section 5) The pharmacies that implement drop-boxes will receive a tax break incentive of 0.1% |
| 28 | off of the federal business tax. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | Section 6) This act will require doctors to prioritize prescribing extended release (ER) medications |
| 31 | instead of immediate release (IR) medications. Doctors that are found to be prescribing IR |
| 32 | medication unnecessarily will be subject to fines no lower than $500 and up to $5,000. |
| 33 | |
| 34 | Section 7) This act will cost 1.1 million dollars in total. The cost of production of the drop-boxes |
| 35 | will be roughly $1,050,000. The cost of installation will be $50,000. |
| 36 | |
| 37 | Section 8) This act will be implemented on January 1st, 2025. Construction and installation of the |
| 38 | medication drop-boxes should be complete before January 1st, 2026. |
| 39 |