§ 20-2-190.2 — Electronic Drug Offender Tracking System

Alabama § 20-2-190.2

• Jurisdiction: Alabama
• Title 20: Food, Drugs and Cosmetics
• Ch. 2: Controlled Substances
• Art. 9: Precursor Chemicals

Text

(a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:
(1) DRUG RELATED CONVICTION. Any conviction or plea of nolo contendere for the offense of possession, distribution, trafficking, or any degree of manufacture of controlled substances, or drug paraphernalia. A drug related conviction shall also include the inchoate crimes of attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy of any of the drug related crimes.
(2) DRUG OFFENDER. Any person who has any conviction listed in subdivision (1).
(b) Effective January 1, 2013, the State Bureau of Investigations shall implement a real-time electronic drug offender tracking system to catalogue all criminal convictions in this state of persons convicted of felonies or misdemeanors involving the possession, distribution, manufacture, or trafficking of controlled substances. This catalogue shall include, but not be limited to, paraphernalia convictions, violations of this article, in whole or in part, attempts, conspiracies, or solicitations to commit any crime involving the possession, distribution, or manufacture of controlled substances. A drug offender convicted of violations of Act 2012-237, possession of a controlled substance, or drug paraphernalia shall remain in the drug offender tracking system for seven years beginning upon each conviction. A drug offender convicted of manufacture, distribution, or trafficking of controlled substances shall remain in the drug offender tracking system for ten years beginning upon each conviction. A person’s name shall be removed from the tracking system upon the expiration of the applicable seven or ten years from the adjudication or conviction of the last violation and confirmation that the drug offender has no new convictions.
(c) The electronic drug offender tracking system shall have the technological capability to receive ephedrine and pseudoephedrine sales data from pharmacies submitted pursuant to this section. The electronic drug offender tracking system shall be capable of bridging with existing and future operational systems used by pharmacies at no charge to the pharmacies. The State Bureau of Investigations may enter into a public-private partnership, through a memorandum of understanding or similar arrangement, to make the system available to pharmacies and law enforcement in the state.
(d)(1) Effective January 1, 2013, the State Bureau of Investigations, in cooperation with the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators, which administers the National Precursor Log Exchange, shall devise a method to electronically notify the association at least every seven days of any person placed on the drug offender tracking system. The notification shall include the first, middle, and last names of the person, as well as the person’s date of birth. The State Bureau of Investigations shall devise a method to issue a stop sale alert for any purchaser whose name has been submitted to the national registry.
(2) The State Bureau of Investigations shall notify the association when a person is removed from the drug offender tracking system as required under subsection (b).
(e) The information contained in this electronic drug offender tracking system shall be available:
(1) To any law enforcement agency or entity as authorized by the State Bureau of Investigations.
(2) Pursuant to a subpoena.
(f) The drug offender tracking system shall be capable of generating a stop sale alert, which shall be a notification that the purchaser has a previous conviction for a drug related offense and completion of the sale would result in a violation of law under Section 20-2-190. The system shall contain an override function for use by a dispenser of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine who has a reasonable fear of imminent bodily harm. Each instance in which the override function is utilized shall be logged by the system.
(g) Effective January 1, 2013, provided a system is available to the state without cost to the state or pharmacies for accessing the system, before completing a sale of a product covered by this section, a pharmacy shall submit the required information to the electronic drug offender tracking system established under subsection (b).
(h) If the pharmacy, after checking the electronic drug offender database, determines the purchaser is a drug offender, the pharmacist shall not complete the sale, except when the seller follows the procedure described under subsection (f) for overriding the stop sale alert when the seller has fear of bodily harm.
(i) Any seller who fails to comply with this section shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for a first offense, and a Class C felony for a second or subsequent offense, except that sellers who exercise the override feature described under section (f) when a stop sale alert is generated shall not be subject to misdemeanor or felony charges. Absent negligence, wantonness, recklessness, or deliberate misconduct, any pharmacist maintaining the electronic drug offender tracking system in accordance with this section shall not be civilly liable as a result of any act or omission in carrying out the duties required by this subsection and shall be immune from liability to any third party unless the pharmacy has violated any provision of this subsection in relation to a claim brought for such violation.
(j)(1) A drug offender convicted of violations of Act 2012-237, possession of a controlled substance, or drug paraphernalia shall be prohibited from the retail or prescription purchase of any ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, their salts or optical isomers, or salts of optical isomers or product for the entire seven years the person is required to be included in the drug offender tracking system.
(2) A drug offender convicted of manufacture, distribution, or trafficking of controlled substances shall be prohibited from the retail or prescription purchase of any ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, their salts or optical isomers, or salts of optical isomers, or product for the entire ten years the person is required to be included in the drug offender tracking system.
(k) A drug offender who knowingly and unlawfully purchases or attempts, solicits another, or conspires to purchase ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, their salts or optical isomers, or salts of optical isomers or product in violation of this section, is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, except upon a subsequent conviction, is guilty of a Class C felony.

Legislative History

(Act 2012-237, p. 445, §3.)