Section 26-4-29. Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency; continuance; appointment, requirements, and duties of director; power to make arrests; report of violations of drug laws; investigations; dangerous drug list

   (a) The agency created in 1908 as the Office of the Chief Drug Inspector and known as the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency since 1976 is continued in existence as the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency. This agency shall be a budget unit as defined under Code Section 45-12-71; provided, however, that the agency shall be assigned for administrative purposes only, as defined in Code Section 50-4-3, to the Department of Community Health, except that such department shall prepare and submit the budget for the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency. The Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency is authorized by this Code section to enforce the drug laws of this state. The board shall appoint a director who shall be charged with supervision and control of such agency. The Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency shall employ the number of personnel deemed necessary to properly protect the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of this state. Such personnel shall be pharmacists registered in this state when employed as either special agents or the deputy director.

(b) The director shall hold office at the pleasure of the board, and should any vacancy occur in such office for any cause whatsoever, the board shall appoint a successor at a regular or called meeting. The director shall be a pharmacist registered in this state. The director shall serve as the assistant executive director for the board and act on behalf of the executive director during his or her absence. The salary of the director shall be fixed by the board. The whole time of the director shall be at the disposal of the board. The director, or Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency personnel acting on behalf of the director, shall have the duty and the power to:

   (1) Visit and inspect factories, warehouses, wholesaling establishments, retailing establishments, chemical laboratories, and such other establishments in which any drugs, devices, cosmetics, and such articles known as family remedies, grocer's drugs, and toilet articles are manufactured, processed, packaged, sold at wholesale, sold at retail, or otherwise held for introduction into commerce;

   (2) Enter and inspect any vehicle used to transport or hold any drugs, devices, cosmetics, or any of the articles listed in paragraph (1) of this subsection;

   (3) Investigate alleged violations of laws and regulations regarding drugs, devices, cosmetics, or any of the articles listed in paragraph (1) of this subsection;

   (4) Take up samples of the articles listed in paragraph (1) of this subsection from any of such establishments for examination and analysis by the state chemist, or under such person's direction and supervision, as provided by Code Section 26-4-131;

   (5) Seize and take possession of all articles which are declared to be contraband under Chapter 13 of Title 16 and Chapter 3 of this title and this chapter and deliver such articles to the agency;

   (6) Compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence on behalf of the board via a subpoena issued by the director, when there is reason to believe any violations of laws or regulations concerning drugs, devices, cosmetics, or any of the articles listed in paragraph (1) of this subsection have occurred; and

   (7) Perform such other duties as may be directed by the board.

(c) (1) The director, deputy director, and special agents of the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency shall have the authority and power that sheriffs possess to make arrests of any persons violating or charged with violating Chapter 13 of Title 16 and Chapter 3 of this title and this chapter. The deputy director and special agents shall be required to be P.O.S.T. certified peace officers under Chapter 8 of Title 35, the "Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Act."

   (2) In case of such arrest, the director, deputy director, or any of the special agents shall immediately deliver the person so arrested to the custody of the sheriff of the county wherein the offense is alleged to have been committed. The duty of the sheriff in regard to the person delivered to the sheriff by any such person arrested under power of this Code section shall be the same as if the sheriff had made the original arrest.

(d) When the deputy director or a special agent employed by the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency leaves the agency under honorable conditions after accumulating 25 years of service in the agency, as a result of a disability arising in the line of duty, or pursuant to approval by the State Board of Pharmacy, such director or agent shall be entitled to retain his or her weapon and badge pursuant to approval by the State Board of Pharmacy, and, upon leaving the agency, the director of the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency shall retain his or her weapon and badge pursuant to approval by the State Board of Pharmacy.

(e) The Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency may employ personnel who are not special agents to conduct and assist with inspections.

(f) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, upon receiving a summary report from agency personnel, the director shall report to the board what have been determined to be violations of the drug laws and rules over which the board has authority. After such reports have been made to the board, the board may instruct the director to:

   (1) Cite any such person or establishment to appear before the cognizant member of the board for an investigative interview;

   (2) Forward such reports to the Attorney General's office for action decided on by the board; or

   (3) Take whatever other action the board deems necessary.

(g) The Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency may contract with and submit invoices for payment of services rendered to other professional licensing boards for the purposes of conducting investigations on their behalf and under the authority of such other professional licensing boards. Such investigations and subsequent reports and summaries shall be subject to the same confidentiality restrictions and disclosure as required for investigations and reports for the requesting professional licensing board. Any such payment of services received by the agency shall be deposited into the general fund of the state treasury.

(h) The Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency shall compile and submit to the General Assembly during each annual legislative session a list of known dangerous drugs as defined in subsection (a) of Code Section 16-13-71 and any other drugs or devices which the board has determined may be dangerous or detrimental to the public health and safety and should require a prescription, and the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency shall assist the State Board of Pharmacy during each annual legislative session by compiling and submitting a list of substances to add to or reschedule substances enumerated in the schedules in Code Sections 16-13-25 through 16-13-29 by using the guidelines set forth in Code Section 16-13-22.

(i) The State Board of Pharmacy is authorized and directed to publish in print or electronically and distribute the "Dangerous Drug List" as prepared by the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency and the "Georgia Controlled Substances Act" as enacted by law.

(j) The Georgia State Board of Pharmacy shall provide for a fee as deemed reasonable, or at no cost, such number of copies of the "Dangerous Drug List" and "Georgia Controlled Substances Act" to law enforcement officials, school officials, parents, and other interested citizens as are required.

Code 1981, § 26-4-29, enacted by Ga. L. 1998, p. 686, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 81, § 26; Ga. L. 2010, p. 838, § 10/SB 388; Ga. L. 2013, p. 141, § 26/HB 79; Ga. L. 2013, p. 192, § 1-11/HB 132.