Requires products sold as not safe for human consumption to be labeled with their ingredients and active chemical compounds

1 Co-sponsor

• Martin Malavé Dilan

BILL NUMBER:S2446

Title of bill

An act to amend the general business law, in relation to the sale and labeling of products not safe for human consumption

Purpose or general idea of bill

This bill has the dual purpose of closing a loop hole for enforcing the Federal Analog Act (21 U.S.C. 813) in New York State and also protects public safety. Many new designer drugs label their products "not safe for human consumption" to avoid enforcement under the restrictive requirements of the Analog Act. However, they do not reveal what chemical compounds are being used in their production, as responsible manufacturers already do. When people axe hurt by these products, doctors and poison control are inhibited in their care by being unable to pinpoint the poisoning agent. This bill requires that products labeled "not safe for human consumption" also state their ingredients and active chemicals.

Summary of specific provisions

This bill amends the general business law by adding section 390-d which pertains to the sale of and labeling of products not safe for human consumption. It requires products which are not safe or unfit for human consumption to list conspicuously ingredients and active chemical compounds.

Justification

This bill will help to put New York at the forefront in the ongoing battle against designer drugs. Many designer drugs are legal in New York and the United States, but many only through a loophole in the Federal Analog Act which states that substances which are not intended for human consumption. This legislation has a threefold purpose:

(1) listing chemical compounds on even legal substances will help emergency department doctors and poison control help treat individuals who have overdosed or become hurt by designer drugs or other unsafe products;

(2) if manufacturers of substances which may be legal because of the Analog Act loophole decide to forgo the warning, it runs the risk of being at odds with the Analog Act; and

(3) this legislation provides a less resource-intensive method of removing these products from shelves because if the products either (i) do not comply, or (ii) if the chemicals turn out to be different than the ones stated, then the products must be removed from the market.

This bill has been amended to increase the scope of its applicability and add a penalty. The initial version amended the Agriculture and Markets Law, the intent to the moving it to the General Business Law is to have it apply not only to food products, but also to cosmetics, cleaners, plant foods, or any other guise that the producers and sellers of designer drugs may choose to avoid the law.

Prior legislative history

2012 - S. 7096 - Agriculture

Fiscal implications

None to the State.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law.