PIERRE, S.D. - Attorney General Marty Jackley joined a bipartisan group of 39 state and territorial Attorneys General to ask Congress to expedite the passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) and the Comprehensive Addiction Reform, Education, and Safety Act (CARES).

“These two acts will directly address the devastation the national opioid epidemic has caused in our communities and to help hold opioid manufacturers accountable,” said Jackley. “We have worked hard as a State on the prevention of prescription drug abuse with our doctors, pharmacist and our Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, it is time the manufacturers do their part.”

Opioid manufacturers have a duty to ensure that steps are taken to prevent their drugs from entering the illicit market and these two acts increase penalties on drug manufacturers that fail to report suspicious transactions and maintain effective controls against diversion of their drugs in the illicit market. The bills double the maximum criminal penalty from $250,000 to $500,000 for companies that willfully disregard or knowingly fail to keep proper reporting systems or fail to report suspicious activity.  

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