Senate committee hears bill to expand voluntary pharmacy drug take‑back bins, funds $500,000 grant

Sen. Jeff Stone, R‑Mesquite, told the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor that Senate Bill 231 would encourage pharmacies across Nevada to host secure drug take‑back bins and establish minimum operational safeguards for collection and destruction of home‑generated pharmaceuticals.

Stone said the goal is to reduce drug diversion, avoid inappropriate disposal into landfills and waterways, and make disposal more convenient. “The appropriate and the legal disposal of expired or unused prescription drugs is important to prevent drug diversion, protect our landfills, and safeguard our finite water supplies,” he said.

The bill would encourage pharmacies — particularly chain stores — to install secure, observed drop boxes that are locked when a pharmacy is closed, require conspicuous signage (including hours of permitted deposits and a list of unacceptable items such as syringes and Schedule I drugs), require regular inspection logs retained for two years, and require collectors to notify law enforcement within one business day of any suspected tampering, theft or significant loss. Stone described existing federal regulations under 21 C.F.R. that enable observed pharmacy collection and the role of DEA‑licensed reverse distributors to remove and incinerate collected pharmaceuticals.

SB231 does not mandate installation by pharmacies and shields participating pharmacies from discipline by the State Board of Pharmacy so long as collectors comply with the bill’s provisions — except in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct. The measure also explicitly prohibits participating pharmacies from charging customers for use of the bins. Stone told the committee the bill would be funded by “a $500,000 grant from the Fund for Resilient Nevada created by NRS 433.732” administered through the Division of Public and Behavioral Health and the Department of Health and Human Services, and that, if passed, the act would become effective July 2025.

Supporters included Alex Tanchek of Stericycle, who said proper destruction of prescription drugs is a critical safety and environmental issue. No callers or witnesses registered opposition. Committee members asked operational questions — including whether libraries or police stations could host bins (Stone said the bill is specific to pharmacies, though some law‑enforcement facilities already host collection boxes) and whether Schedule I substances and needles would be accepted (those are excluded by the bill; Stone said collectors and pharmacies are not structured to accept sharps). Committee members and proponents discussed trace pharmaceuticals in Lake Mead and pharmacy coverage inequities across Nevada; Stone cited a State Board of Pharmacy/DEA shared database showing roughly 42 pharmacy locations statewide with drop boxes (3 in Elko, 11 in Reno–Sparks, 28 in Las Vegas–Henderson) and said that equates to about one bin per 76,190 residents in the cited area.

The bill hearing closed with Stone reiterating that SB231 is voluntary, funded, and intended to reduce diversion and downstream environmental contamination. The committee did not take a final vote on SB231 during the hearing.