June 6-8, 2006
Houston, TX

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Office of Diversion Control, sponsored the Fifteenth National Conference on Drug and Chemical Diversion June 6-8, 2006 in Houston, Texas. The meeting was attended by individuals from approximately 25 states responsible for policy-level regulatory drug control and operational law enforcement affecting the diversion of licitly manufactured controlled substances.

This conference is held on a yearly basis and is one of the mechanisms used by the Office of Diversion Control to facilitate continued communication and cooperation with our state and local counterparts.

The conference focused on the growing trend of prescription drug abuse and strategies being taken by federal and state authorities to stem illegal activities without adversely impacting legitimate health care systems. Agenda items included issues such as Prescription Monitoring Programs, the need to address illegal Internet sales from policy, legal and investigative angles, the status of DEA’s electronic prescriptions and orders programs, Strategic National Stockpile Program, the Combat Meth Act, as well as current trends regarding the diversion of OTC products such as pseudoephedrine into illicit drug production.

See below for all PowerPoint presentations provided to DEA for dissemination.

• Combat Methamphetamine Act of 2005 by Mark Caverly, DEA
• Drug Disposal by Cathy Gallagher, DEA
• Drug Disposal by Stan Jeppesen, WA State Board of Pharmacy
• Drug Disposal by Jim Mansfield, Clark County Washington Public Waste
• Drug Scheduling by Demetra Ashley, DEA
• Drug Trends by Matthew Murphy, DEA
• Interstate PMP Exchange Project, by Scott Serich, IJIS Institute & Kathy Ellis, CA Department of Justice
• Pseudoephedrine and Methamphetamine by Lisa Barnhill, DEA
• DEA Registration Update by Mary Johnson-Rochee, DEA
• DEA Regulatory Update by Mark Caverly, DEA
• Strategic National Stockpile by Cathy Gallagher, DEA
• Strategic National Stockpile by Anita Patel, CDC
• Strategic National Stockpile by Meg Pearson, MS Department of Public Health

Any questions regarding the conference may be directed to Program Analyst, Mandy Healy at (202) 307-7297.

Conference Report

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Office of Diversion Control sponsored the 15th National Conference on Drug and Chemical Diversion from June 6th through 8th 2006 in Houston, Texas. The meeting was attended by individuals responsible for policy-level regulatory drug control and operational law enforcement affecting the diversion of licitly manufactured controlled substances and regulated chemicals from approximately 25 states. These conferences are held annually and serve as one mechanism used by the Office of Diversion Control to facilitate continued communication and cooperation between DEA and its state and local counterparts.

The conference opened with a welcome by James D. Craig, Special Agent-in-Charge (SAC) of the Houston Field Division. SAC Craig continued with a brief overview of the drug and chemical situations in the Houston area.

He concluded by introducing Denise Curry, Deputy Director, Office of Diversion Control. Mrs. Curry introduced the DEA staff that were present and went on to set the tone and objectives for the meeting. She went on to applaud the participants for their past efforts and support of drug and chemical diversion prevention. She indicated that DEA was grateful for their continued cooperation especially in light of the budget restrictions that most agencies are dealing with.

Chief Mark Caverly from DEA’s Liaison and Policy Section served as the master of ceremonies making administrative announcements and introducing the various speakers. Among other comments, he noted that over half of the United States was represented at this conference.

Scott Serich from the IJIS Institute and Cathy Ellis from the California Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) gave presentations on the Interstate Sharing of Prescription Monitoring Program Data (See PowerPoint presentation). Mr. Serich discussed the IJIS organization and how they use grant money from BJA to set standards for electronic sharing of PMP data. The current objective is to join the California and Nevada PMPs as a proof of concept. Cathy Ellis spoke regarding the PMP programs in California and Nevada. She outlined the issues that are preventing the exchange of data between programs.

Matthew Murphy, Chief, Pharmaceutical Investigations Section made a presentation on Drug Diversion Trends as observed by various DEA offices. Discussion evolved regarding the source of the statistics used. It was pointed out by Mr. Caverly that DEA does not develop/maintain drug abuse statistics on their own. Instead, DEA uses those statistics that are provided by other agencies such as Dept of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

The first day concluded with a presentation on the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) given by Anita Patel of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cathy Gallagher of DEA’s Liaison and Policy, and Meg Pearson, the Mississippi State SNS Pharmacist Consultant (See PowerPoint presentations). This series of discussions spoke to the use of the SNS in response to the Hurricane Katrina natural disaster. Anita Patel outlined the program, its organization and its capabilities. Dr. Patel went own to detail the program’s performance during Hurricane Katrina and the cooperation between the state and local officials and the federal agencies that oversee the SNS. Cathy Gallagher spoke to DEA’s involvement in the SNS. Ms. Gallagher stated that the greatest challenge to DEA was communication – with DEA field elements as well as State counterparts. Meg Pearson detailed the response that Mississippi made to the Katrina disaster. Ms. Pearson also outlined the use of the SNS in Mississippi.

Day two began with Mark Caverly introducing Demetra Ashley, Associate Section Chief of DEA’s Drug and Chemical Evaluation Section, who gave a presentation on Drug Scheduling & Regulatory Issues (See PowerPoint presentation). During her presentation Ms. Ashley covered the current status of diversion and abuse with the drug Fentanyl.

Mary Johnson-Rocheé, Deputy Chief, spoke for Rick Boyd, Chief of DEA’s Registration and Program Support Section, giving an update on DEA’s efforts to streamline the registration process (See PowerPoint presentation).

Lisa Barnhill, Staff Coordinator with DEA’s Dangerous Drugs and Chemicals Section, gave an update on the Methamphetamine and Pseudoephedrine situations throughout the world (See PowerPoint presentation).

Mark Caverly, Chief of DEA’s Liaison and Policy Section made a presentation outlining the provisions of the recently passed legislation – Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005.

Mr. Caverly began by briefly outlining the existing restrictions and requirements regarding handling of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine containing products. He then went on to provide the changes that are required with the new law. Key definitions and new point of sale requirements including sales limits of 3.6 grams, record keeping requirements and the need for self-certification/training were presented (See PowerPoint presentation).

Michael Mapes, Chief of DEA’s E-Commerce Section, gave an update on DEA’s E-Commerce initiatives – Controlled Substances Ordering System (CSOS) and Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances (EPCS).

The second day concluded with presentations regarding Domestic Internet Investigations by Matthew Murphy, Chief of DEA’s Pharmaceutical Investigations Section and Diversion Program Manager (DPM) Mike Lewis. Information presented by both presenters was confidential in nature.

The final day of the conference began with a discussion of Disposal of Controlled Substances. Presentations were made by Cathy Gallagher, Associate Chief of DEA’s Liaison and Policy Section, Jim Mansfield, Waste Reduction Specialist from Clark County, Washington, Public Works, and Stan Jeppesen with the Washington State Board of Pharmacy (See PowerPoint presentations). Mrs. Gallagher presented DEA’s requirements relating to disposal. Mr. Mansfield presented information on various disposal programs and how they operate across the country. Mr. Jeppesen provided information on a pilot program that the state of Washington is currently undertaking.

Mark Caverly, Chief of DEA’s Liaison and Policy Section presented a Regulatory Update (See PowerPoint presentation). Mr. Caverly covered the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act, Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances, the Controlled Substances Ordering System, the Diversion Control Fee Account, Reexportation of Controlled Substances, and reports by registrants of theft and significant loss.

The conference concluded with an Open Forum led by Mark Caverly who then gave the closing remarks.

o:062606 u:071806 u:112906