US DEA launches a new tool in its online reporting system ARCOS

On 26 February 2019 the United States’ Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced that an upgraded feature of its Automated Reports and Consolidated Orders System (ARCOS) is now active. This new feature allows DEA-registered manufacturers and distributors access to the number of distributors and the amount each distributor sold to a prospective customer.

The “Substance Use–Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act” (Public Law 115-217), a law signed by U.S. President Trump in October 2018, includes a provision (amending 21 U.S.C. 827) that requires the DEA to provide this anonymized information to drug manufacturers and distributors. The goal of this new ARCOS tool is to help ‘registered drug manufacturers and distributors nationwide more effectively identify potential illicit drug diversion and combat the opioid epidemic.’