Bill C-692

2nd Session, 41st Parliament,

62-63-64 Elizabeth II, 2013-2014-2015

house of commons of canada

BILL C-692

An Act respecting a federal framework on the proper use of prescription drugs and establishing National Prescription Drug Drop-off Day

Whereas prescription drugs such as opioids, sedatives or tranquilizers and stimulants, although legal and necessary for many people to maintain and improve their health, carry a high potential for harm — such as addiction, injury, criminal behaviour, motor vehicle and other accidents, accidental overdoses and sui­cide — and the extent of their use has become a significant public health and safety concern across Canada;

Whereas, according to the International Narcotics Control Board, Canada is the world’s second largest per capita consumer of opioids and there has been an increase in the number of young people reporting that they are using prescription drugs for non-medical reasons;

Whereas, in 2013, the National Advisory Committee on Prescription Drug Misuse released a report entitled First Do No Harm: Responding to Canada’s Prescription Drug Crisis, which set out a strategy that included 58 recommendations in the areas of prevention, education, treatment, monitoring and surveillance, and enforcement across Canada;

Whereas the Government of Canada is the leader of the National Anti-Drug Strategy, which is focused among other things on addressing prescription drug abuse, and it allocated $44.9 million to address this issue in the Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No.1;

Whereas Canadians would benefit from the establishment of guidelines on prescribing and dispensing prescription drugs appropriately, storing and disposing of prescription drugs safely, implementing national prescription drug monitoring systems, creating increased public awareness of the harms associated with these drugs and of the ways to prevent them, and educating health practitioners more effectively with respect to ways of preventing these harms and reducing the illicit diversion of prescription drugs in Canada;

Whereas a National Prescription Drug Drop-off Day already exists in practice in Canada and is supported by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, the Canadian Pharmacists Association and other national organizations;

Whereas the formalization of a National Prescription Drop-off Day would highlight the importance of the safe storage and disposal of prescription drugs, provide an opportunity to educate Canadians on the risks and harms of keeping unused prescription drugs in their homes and support the efforts made by pharmacists, law enforcement officials and community leaders to address this important public health and safety issue;

Whereas there needs to be prompt and coordinated intervention, on many fronts and across political lines, demographic profiles and professions, to address the harms associated with prescription drugs;

And whereas a National Prescription Drug Drop-off Day and a federal framework on the proper use of prescription drugs, based on the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse’s report entitled First Do No Harm: Responding to Canada’s Prescription Drug Crisis and its recommendations, would draw the attention of Canadians, the health care sector and other stakeholders to Canada’s prescription drugs crisis;

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the Proper Use of Prescription Drugs Act.

FEDERAL FRAMEWORK ON THE PROPER USE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

2. (1) The Minister of Health, in cooperation with representatives of the provincial and territorial governments responsible for public health and safety as well as with health care practitioners, policy planners, stakeholders — including the provincial colleges of physicians and surgeons, the provincial colleges of pharmacists and professional health associations such as medical and pharmacists’ associations, and patients’ groups — must develop and implement, while respecting the jurisdiction and powers of the provinces, a comprehensive federal framework on the proper use of prescription drugs, including measures to address the following recommendations of the report of the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse entitled First Do No Harm: Responding to Canada’s Prescription Drug Crisis:

(a) the sharing of best practices between provincial and territorial departments responsible for health matters, the pharmaceutical industry and stakeholders, in order to address all aspects of the storage and disposal of unused prescription drugs;

(b) the establishment of guidelines — for individuals and families — related to the safe storage and disposal of prescription drugs;

(c) the development of protocols for, among others, regional public health organizations, local pharmacies and law enforcement organizations for the implementation and evaluation of take-back initiatives that aim to encourage the safe storage, distribution and disposal of prescription drugs, including protocols to address the risks of sharing prescription drugs;

(d) the potential establishment of guidelines to reduce the risk of diversion associated with the handling of unused prescription drugs when they are returned directly to pharmacies for destruction;

(e) the standardization of key elements of prescription drug surveillance systems within provincial and federal governments, including data holdings, data streams, definitions and common terminology, indicators, collection methods, reporting, links with data systems for other drugs, risk factors and epidemiological surveillance;

(f) the development and implementation of social marketing campaigns directed at specific populations or communities, including information relating to the benefits, harms and use of prescription drugs as prescribed and to the signs and symptoms of misuse, addiction and overdose, as well as measures to be taken to address these matters;

(g) the possible recognition of pharmacists as health practitioners under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act; and

(h) the possible limitation of prescription and dispensing periods for prescription drugs.

(2) The Minister of Health must, within 12 months after the day on which this Act comes into force, convene a conference with represent­atives of the provincial and territorial governments responsible for public health and safety, health care practitioners, policy planners, stakeholders — including the provincial colleges of physicians and surgeons, the provincial colleges of pharmacists and professional health associations such as medical and pharmacists’ associations, and patients’ groups — for the purpose of developing the federal framework referred to in subsection (1).

3. (1) The Minister of Health must cause a copy of the report setting out the federal framework to be laid before each House of Parliament within 18 months after the day on which this Act comes into force.

(2) The Minister must publish the report on the departmental website within 30 days after the day on which the report is tabled in Parliament.

REVIEW AND REPORT

4. Within five years of the tabling of the report referred to in section 3, and every five years after that, the Minister of Health must prepare a report on the effectiveness of the federal framework, setting out his or her conclusions and recommendations regarding the framework, and cause a copy of the report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting.

NATIONAL PRESCRIPTION DRUG DROP-OFF DAY

5. Throughout Canada, in each and every year, the third Saturday in March is to be known as “National Prescription Drug Drop-off Day”.

6. For greater certainty, National Prescription Drug Drop-off Day is not a legal holiday or a non-juridical day.