Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 120
02/06/2006 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB172 | |
| SB132 | |
| HB379 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 373 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 295 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| = | SB 132 | ||
| = | SB 172 | ||
| = | HB 379 | ||
HB 379 - CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES, INCL. ANALOGS 3:15:32 PM CHAIR MCGUIRE announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 379, "An Act relating to controlled substances." She noted that the committee was still on Version G, and that she had amendments that she agreed to offer on behalf of the sponsor. MICHAEL PAWLOWSKI, staff to Representative Kevin Meyer, sponsor of HB 379, relayed that, according to the chemists at the [Alaska's Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory], there are legitimate industrial uses for the analogues to Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate (GHB). Thus, Amendment 1 seeks to protect those limited uses. Amendment 1, labeled 24-LS1396\G.1, Luckhaupt, 2/6/06, reads as follows [original punctuation provided]: Page 1, lines 13-14: Delete all material and insert: "(2) when intended or used for human consumption: (A) gamma butyrolactone(GBL); (B) 1,4 butanediol(BD); (C) gamma hydroxyvalerate(GHV); (D) gamma-valerolactone 4-pentanolide(GVL)." MR. PAWLOWSKI said Amendment 1 adds GHV and GVL to the bill, which are federally recognized analogs to GHB that the [United States] Drug Enforcement Agency has identified. It is in conjunction with Amendment 2, he added. 3:17:31 PM CHRIS BEHEIM, Supervisor, Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, Anchorage, said he agrees that GHV and GVL are listed as analogs, and there are legitimate uses for the 1,4 butanediol and GBL as solvents, but he can't say that they are used in Alaska for any purpose. They are used for the manufacture of plastics and certain fibers, he said, but it makes sense to have them controlled for illicit uses. 3:18:12 PM CHAIR MCGUIRE moved to adopt Amendment 1. Hearing no objections, Amendment 1 was adopted. CHAIR MCGUIRE moved to adopt Amendment 2 as follows [original punctuation provided]: Page 1, line 15, through page 2, line 23: Delete all material. Renumber the following bill section accordingly. MR. PAWLOWSKI said Section 2 of the bill was broad and over reaching-regulating "chemicals that we didn't want to touch." Hearing no objections, Amendment 2 was adopted. REPRESENTATIVE GARA said he wants to make sure that the legislation only outlines substances that are being used in the "date rape" drug and nothing beyond that. He said that on page 1, line 6, it says "any of these materials...or which contain any of its salts or isomers." He asked if subsets of these chemicals are made illegal by the legislation and if there are legitimate uses for them. MR. BEHEIM noted that there are legitimate uses for GHB, including a prescription drug that is categorized as schedule III federally; however, the GHB that is most encountered would be in the illicit form. He said the GHB comes in different forms: an acid or a salt of an acid. REPRESENTATIVE GARA asked if the bill should be more detailed to protect legal uses. MR. BEHEIM said that in the federal schedule, GHB is in both schedule I--which has no legitimate use-and in schedule III. He said if it is abused, the schedule III substance becomes a schedule I substance. 3:21:16 PM MR. PAWLOWSKI relayed that salts or isomers are standard descriptions, and making a salt is something that he is vague about. He said with the language of "when intended or used for human consumption," he believes that the bill is "getting away from legitimate uses." He added, "As to the medical side of it, I'm honestly not sure, but I thought that was exempted under Controlled Substances Act because of the way you get into the violation in the first place." MR. BEHEIM gave an example with regard to salts. He said cocaine is encountered in two forms, one as the hydrochloride salt and the other is as the base, which is crack cocaine. Many drugs come in many forms, he added, and there are also different isomers. REPRESENTATIVE GARA said he just wants to make sure that substances with legitimate uses are not being made illegal under this legislation. He noted that Mr. Beheim said there was a prescription form of GHB. MR. BEHEIM pointed out that GHB is the "same, exact chemical" in a prescription form, which is a sodium salt, but when there is a legitimate prescription it is a federal schedule III substance. He said the same chemical in the same form can be illicitly abused, so both forms are controlled but they are in different schedules. MR. PAWLOWSKI noted that oxycodone is covered as a schedule I, but somehow the legitimate use is protected. "This would put GHB in the same schedule," he said. 3:24:27 PM REPRESENTATIVE GARA pondered whether there is a need to add language that says "except for that form of GHB that is permitted by prescription use." CHAIR MCGUIRE said she does not know how that is handled, because there are things in the schedule where there is no evidence "that prosecutors are out there running rampant prosecuting people for these legitimate uses." REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG posited that adding something to schedule I A allows it to be prescribed. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL suggested doing research on that point. CHAIR MCGUIRE expressed that the bill will go to the House Finance Committee, and she said it is likely not the sponsor's intent to criminalize uses of reasonable substances. She added that she is comfortable passing the bill out with the assurance from Mr. Pawlowski that he will send the committee a memo about how legitimate uses are protected. 3:27:03 PM MR. PAWLOWSKI agreed to do so. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved Conceptual Amendment 3 in order to narrow the title as tightly as possible because he does not want to see a marijuana bill coming back in disguise. MR. PAWLOWSKI suggested a title that says, "including GHB and its federally recognized analogs." REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked who the drafter is. MR. PAWLOWSKI said Jerry Luckhaupt. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG requested a final version of the bill in the aforementioned memo to the committee from the sponsor. 3:28:38 PM CHAIR McGUIRE, after determining that there were no objections, announced that Conceptual Amendment 3 was adopted. REPRESENTATIVE WILSON moved to report HB 379, as amended, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. CHAIR MCGUIRE said the fiscal note is pending. CHAIR McGUIRE, after determining that there were no objections, announced that CSHB 379(JUD) was reported out of the House Judiciary Standing Committee.
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