---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO FOOD AND DRUGS - UNIFORM CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT (Allows information contained in the prescription drug monitoring database to be disclosed to a certified law enforcement drug diversion investigator of a qualified law enforcement agency.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO FOOD AND DRUGS - UNIFORM CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT (Allows information contained in the prescription drug monitoring database to be disclosed to a certified law enforcement drug diversion investigator of a qualified law enforcement agency.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 656"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 656 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Attorney General", "Food and Drugs", "Prescription drugs"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Conley", "Coyne", "Lombardi", "McCaffrey", "Raptakis"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 11
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2017-03-29"
last_action: "2017-07-19"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a55e9990-275c-4613-82e6-6e6424f209e6"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "f8f05a52196c788c3c954f50259e11dfe52db282c6b2eede2618bd0dea12ff66"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island SB 656 (2017) — AN ACT RELATING TO FOOD AND DRUGS - UNIFORM CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT (Allows information contained in the prescription drug monitoring database to be disclosed to a certified law enforcement drug diversion investigator of a qualified law enforcement agency.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **656 SUB A as amended** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText17/SenateText17/S0656Aaa.pdf)

## Votes

- Approval of Amendment — **27–8** (pass) · legislature
- Passage as Amended — **21–14** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Conley — primary (person)
- Coyne — primary (person)
- Lombardi — primary (person)
- McCaffrey — primary (person)
- Raptakis — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-03-29** 03/29/2017 Introduced, referred to Senate Judiciary `referral-committee, introduction`
- **2017-04-21** 04/21/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/27/2017)
- **2017-04-27** 04/27/2017 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2017-06-16** 06/16/2017 Scheduled for consideration (06/20/2017)
- **2017-06-20** 06/20/2017 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-06-20** 06/20/2017 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/27/2017)
- **2017-06-27** 06/27/2017 Senate passed Sub A as amended (floor amendment) `passage`
- **2017-06-29** 06/29/2017 Placed on the House Consent Calendar (06/29/2017)
- **2017-06-29** 06/29/2017 House passed Sub A as amended in concurrence `passage`
- **2017-07-18** 07/18/2017 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2017-07-19** 07/19/2017 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a55e9990-275c-4613-82e6-6e6424f209e6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).