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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1944 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1617 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Rebecca L. Rausch |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act prohibiting the sale of dextromethorphan to minors. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Rebecca L. RauschNorfolk, Worcester and Middlesex 1 of 3 |
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| 16 | 16 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1944 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1617 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Ms. Rausch, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1617) of Rebecca L. Rausch for |
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| 19 | 19 | | legislation to prohibit the sale of dextromethorphan to minors. Public Health. |
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| 20 | 20 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 21 | 21 | | SEE SENATE, NO. 1456 OF 2023-2024.] |
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| 22 | 22 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 23 | 23 | | _______________ |
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| 24 | 24 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 25 | 25 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 26 | 26 | | _______________ |
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| 27 | 27 | | An Act prohibiting the sale of dextromethorphan to minors. |
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| 28 | 28 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 29 | 29 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 30 | 30 | | 1 Chapter 94C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby |
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| 31 | 31 | | 2amended by inserting after section 27A the following section:- |
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| 32 | 32 | | 3 Section 27B. (a)(1) It shall be unlawful to sell a nonprescription material, compound, |
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| 33 | 33 | | 4mixture or preparation containing any detectable quantity of dextromethorphan, its salts or |
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| 34 | 34 | | 5optical isomers, or salts of optical isomers to any person under the age of 18. |
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| 35 | 35 | | 6 (2) It shall be unlawful for any person under the age of 18 to purchase or attempt to |
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| 36 | 36 | | 7purchase a nonprescription material, compound, mixture or preparation containing any detectable |
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| 37 | 37 | | 8quantity of dextromethorphan, its salts or optical isomers, or salts of optical isomers. |
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| 38 | 38 | | 9 (3) A nonprescription material, compound, mixture or preparation containing any |
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| 39 | 39 | | 10detectable quantity of dextromethorphan, its salts or optical isomers, or salts of optical isomers 2 of 3 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 11shall not be sold unless the purchaser presents photo identification that validates the individual’s |
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| 41 | 41 | | 12age or from the purchaser’s outward appearance the person making the sale would reasonably |
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| 42 | 42 | | 13presume the purchaser to be twenty-seven years of age or older. Valid identification shall include |
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| 43 | 43 | | 14a valid, current form of photo identification issued by a federal, state, county or municipal |
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| 44 | 44 | | 15government, or subdivision or agency thereof, including but not limited to a motor vehicle |
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| 45 | 45 | | 16operator’s license, a Massachusetts state identification card, an identification card issued to a |
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| 46 | 46 | | 17member of the Armed Forces or a passport. |
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| 47 | 47 | | 18 (4) Nothing in the act shall be construed to impose any compliance requirement on a |
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| 48 | 48 | | 19retail entity other than manually obtaining and verifying proof of age as a condition of sale, |
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| 49 | 49 | | 20including placement of products in a specific place within a store, other restrictions on |
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| 50 | 50 | | 21consumers’ direct access to finished drug products, or the maintenance of transaction records. |
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| 51 | 51 | | 22Any manufacturer, distributor, or retailer whose employee or representative, during the course of |
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| 52 | 52 | | 23the employee or representative’s employment or association with the manufacturer, distributor, |
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| 53 | 53 | | 24or retailer sells or trades dextromethorphan in violation of paragraph (1) shall receive a warning |
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| 54 | 54 | | 25letter from the state Bureau of Health Care Safety and Quality for the first such violation. Any |
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| 55 | 55 | | 26employee or representative of a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer who, during the course of |
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| 56 | 56 | | 27employee or representative’s employment or association with that manufacturer distributor, or |
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| 57 | 57 | | 28retailer sells or trades dextromethorphan in violation of paragraph (1) shall be subject to a civil |
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| 58 | 58 | | 29penalty in an amount of a) not more than $150 for the second such violation by a person b) not |
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| 59 | 59 | | 30more than $250 for the third such violation or subsequent such violation by a person. Any person |
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| 60 | 60 | | 31who purchases dextromethorphan in violation of paragraph (2) is subject to a civil fine of $50. 3 of 3 |
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| 61 | 61 | | 32 (b) This section shall not apply to a compound, mixture or preparation containing any |
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| 62 | 62 | | 33detectable quantity of dextromethorphan which is dispensed pursuant to a valid prescription from |
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| 63 | 63 | | 34a licensed practitioner with prescriptive authority. |
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| 64 | 64 | | 35 (c) This act preempts any ordinance regulating the sale, distribution, receipt, or |
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| 65 | 65 | | 36possession of dextromethorphan enacted by a county, city, town, or other political subdivision of |
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| 66 | 66 | | 37this state, and dextromethorphan is not subject to further regulation by such subdivisions. |
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