By: Hughes S.B. No. 666
(In the Senate - Filed December 19, 2024; February 3, 2025,
read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
March 5, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 11,
Nays 0; March 5, 2025, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the age at which a person may purchase or possess
nitrous oxide.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 485.017, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 485.017. SIGNS. A business establishment that sells
an abusable volatile chemical at retail shall display a conspicuous
sign, in English and Spanish, that states the following:
It is unlawful for a person to sell or deliver an
abusable volatile chemical to a person under 18 years of age.
Except in limited situations, such an offense is a state jail
felony.
It is unlawful for a person to sell nitrous oxide to a
person under 21 years of age. Except in limited situations, such an
offense is a state jail felony.
It is also unlawful for a person to abuse a volatile
chemical by inhaling, ingesting, applying, using, or possessing
with intent to inhale, ingest, apply, or use a volatile chemical in
a manner designed to affect the central nervous system. Such an
offense is a Class B misdemeanor.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 485.032, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 485.032. PROHIBITED DELIVERY OR SALE [TO A MINOR].
SECTION 3. Section 485.032, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsections
(c-1) and (c-2) to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly:
(1) delivers an abusable volatile chemical other than
nitrous oxide to a person who is younger than 18 years of age;
(2) delivers nitrous oxide to a person who is younger
than 18 years of age; or
(3) sells nitrous oxide to a person who is younger than
21 years of age.
(c) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
Subsection (a)(1) or (2) [this section] that:
(1) the person making the delivery is an adult having
supervisory responsibility over the person younger than 18 years of
age and:
(A) the adult permits the use of the abusable
volatile chemical only under the adult's direct supervision and in
the adult's presence and only for its intended purpose; and
(B) the adult removes the chemical from the
person younger than 18 years of age on completion of that use; or
(2) the person to whom the abusable volatile chemical
was delivered presented to the actor [defendant] an apparently
valid Texas driver's license or an identification certificate,
issued by the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas and
containing a physical description consistent with the person's
appearance, that purported to establish that the person was 18
years of age or older.
(c-1) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
Subsection (a)(2) or (3) that the person to whom the nitrous oxide
was sold or delivered was using the nitrous oxide in connection with
a lawful commercial purpose.
(c-2) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
Subsection (a)(3) that the person to whom the nitrous oxide was sold
presented to the actor an apparently valid Texas driver's license
or an identification certificate, issued by the Department of
Public Safety of the State of Texas and containing a physical
description consistent with the person's appearance, that
purported to establish that the person was 21 years of age or older.
SECTION 4. Section 485.035, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to
read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person sells an
abusable volatile chemical, other than nitrous oxide, in violation
of Section 485.011 and the purchaser is 18 years of age or older.
(a-1) A person commits an offense if the person sells
nitrous oxide in violation of Section 485.011 and the purchaser is
21 years of age or older.
SECTION 5. (a) The changes in law made by this Act to
Chapter 485, Health and Safety Code, apply only to an offense
committed on or after the effective date of this Act. For purposes
of this subsection, an offense is committed before the effective
date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs before that
date.
(b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was
committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
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