Establishes criminal offenses for the theft and unlawful possession of a blank official New York state prescription form

Summary of provisions

Section one of the bill adds subsection (12) to § 155.30 of the Penal Law to include a blank official New York state prescription form to the list of property covered by grand larceny in the fourth degree.

Section two of the bill adds subsection (8) to § 165.45 of the Penal Law to include a blank official New York state prescription form to the list of property covered by criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree.

Section three adds a § 220.67 to the Penal Law to create the crime of criminal possession of a prescription form. A person is guilty of criminal possession of a prescription form when such person knowingly possesses a blank official New York State prescription form, unless such person is legally authorized to possess the form or such person is an employee of a person legally authorized to posses the form acting within the scope of his or her employment.

Section four provides an effective date or the first of November succeeding its enactment.

Justification

Prescription drug abuse is a growing crisis in both New York State and the country at large. In this state, there has been armed violence, deaths by overdose and suicide, and increasing rates of addiction. New York State has a preeminent program for combating prescription theft and forgery. In the mid-1980s, the state instituted triplicate forms for controlled substances and saw a 54% decrease in forgeries. Unfortunately, this system and current penal laws are insufficient to counter the theft, possession, and sale of blank official prescription forms. Current law forces authorities to wait until someone sells a prescription form before law enforcement can act.

The Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement estimates that since 2008, approximately 1.4 million official scripts have been stolen from NYC hospitals alone. In 2011, the Office of the New York City special Prosecutor exposed a drug ring on Staten Island and indicted 31 people. The extensive drug trafficking ring sold Oxycodone to customers out of an ice cream truck. The endeavor injected nearly 43,000 pills into the New York City metropolitan area, worth an estimated $1 million. Prosecutors also found 300 illegally obtained prescription forms. The leaders of the drug ring purchased the blank prescription forms from a medical receptionist who pilfered them from

her employer. Unfortunately, in similar situations, current law precludes the investigators from acting until the person taking or holding a blank form sells it to someone else.

This bill creates a criminal penalty for three specific situations. First, grand larceny, a class E felony, will punish someone who steals a blank prescription form. Second, criminal possession of stolen property, which occurs when someone possesses a blank prescription form, knowing ii is stolen and intending to benefit from it. This is also a class E felony. Finally, criminal possession of a prescription form, a class A misdemeanor, punishes someone who knowingly and unlawfully possesses a blank official New York state prescription form. These changes are necessary to combat the criminal diversion of prescription drugs, which feeds addiction, increases overdose and suicide rates, and fuels profits for drug dealers and other criminals.

Legislative history

2014: S.2940 Passed Senate, died in Assembly

2013: S.2940 Passed Senate, died in Assembly

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the first of November succeeding its enactment.