STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
808--C
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. KELLES, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, FORREST, SEAWRIGHT,
MEEKS, DAVILA, ZACCARO, MAMDANI, REYES, HEVESI, BICHOTTE HERMELYN,
EPSTEIN, ROSENTHAL, BURDICK, TAPIA, TAYLOR, BENEDETTO, McDONALD, LUNS-
FORD, BORES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee -- again reported from said committee
with amendments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said
committee -- again reported from said committee with amendments,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing a
drug checking program including requirements for enhanced drug check-
ing service delivery and public health surveillance
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section
2 507 to read as follows:
3 § 507. Drug checking services program. 1. For purposes of this
4 section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
5 (a) "Enhanced drug checking services" means the utilization of all
6 forms of drug testing equipment including complex technology or equip-
7 ment designed to analyze substances and provide results at point of
8 testing or point of care, which may include but is not limited to, chem-
9 ical screening devices such as infrared spectrophotometers, raman spec-
10 trophotometers, or ion mobility spectrometers.
11 (b) "Public health surveillance" means the continuous and systematic
12 collection, analysis, and interpretation of data needed for the plan-
13 ning, implementation, and evaluation of public health initiatives.
14 Public health surveillance may be used for the following purposes:
15 (i) as an early warning system for impending public health emergen-
16 cies;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00379-13-5
A. 808--C 2
1 (ii) to document the impact of an intervention;
2 (iii) to track progress towards specific goals;
3 (iv) to monitor and clarify the epidemiology of health outcomes; and
4 (v) to inform the public health policy and practices.
5 2. The department shall:
6 (a) establish a program to authorize a county or municipality or other
7 entity to provide enhanced drug checking services to assist individuals
8 in determining whether a drug or controlled substance contains contam-
9 inants, toxic substances, or hazardous compounds; and
10 (b) establish public health surveillance of the unregulated drug
11 supply to monitor trends and the impact on health outcomes and increase
12 public awareness of new substances in the unregulated drug supply.
13 3. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations for the
14 provision of enhanced drug checking services which shall include but not
15 be limited to:
16 (a) providing information and harm reduction advice to help individ-
17 uals make informed decisions about drug use;
18 (b) testing any drug or substance that an individual presents for
19 checking to ascertain the composition and likely identity of such drug
20 or substance;
21 (c) advising the individual who presented a drug or substance for
22 checking of the results of the testing;
23 (d) disposing of, or arranging for the disposal of, any sample of a
24 drug or substance used in testing and any drug or substance surrendered
25 by any individual for disposal; and
26 (e) if necessary, arranging for a sample of a drug or substance to be
27 tested by a department approved laboratory.
28 4. The department shall develop policies and procedures to:
29 (a) utilize enhanced drug checking technology for public health
30 surveillance;
31 (b) develop requirements for technician training to ensure accurate
32 point-of-testing and point-of-care results;
33 (c) identify appropriate equipment to use; and
34 (d) establish reporting processes.
35 5. Employees, contractors, and volunteers of the department, direc-
36 tors, managers, employees, contractors, and volunteers of an entity
37 providing drug checking services, owners of properties where drug check-
38 ing services occur, counties, municipalities or other entities author-
39 ized by the department, and individuals presenting drugs or substances
40 for checking, acting in the course and scope of employment or engaged in
41 good faith in the provision of enhanced drug checking services, in
42 accordance with established protocols, shall not be subject to:
43 (a) arrest, charges, or prosecution pursuant to article thirty-three
44 of this chapter or any violation or misdemeanor, including for attempt-
45 ing, aiding and abetting, or conspiracy to commit a violation or misde-
46 meanor pursuant to article two hundred twenty of the penal law; or
47 (b) a civil or administrative penalty or liability of any kind, or
48 disciplinary action by a professional licensing board, for conduct
49 relating to the provision of authorized drug checking services unless
50 such conduct was performed in a negligent manner or in bad faith.
51 6. The department and entities authorized by the department shall not
52 collect, maintain, use, or disclose any personal information relating to
53 an individual from whom the department or other authorized entity
54 receives any drug or substance for checking or disposal.
55 7. The result of any test carried out by the department or an author-
56 ized entity in relation to any drug or substance presented for checking
A. 808--C 3
1 shall not be admissible as evidence in any criminal or civil proceedings
2 against the individual from whom the drug or substance was received,
3 unless submitted by such individual.
4 8. The commissioner shall promulgate such rules and regulations as are
5 necessary to effectuate the provisions of this section.
6 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 3305 of the public health law, as
7 amended by chapter 547 of the laws of 1981, paragraph (d) as amended by
8 chapter 635 of the laws of 1997, is amended to read as follows:
9 1. The provisions of this article restricting the possession and
10 control of controlled substances and official New York state
11 prescription forms shall not apply:
12 (a) to common carriers or to [warehousemen] warehouse workers while
13 engaged in lawfully transporting or storing such substances, or to any
14 employee of the same acting within the scope of [his] their employment;
15 or
16 (b) to public officers or their employees in the lawful performance of
17 their official duties requiring possession or control of controlled
18 substances; or
19 (c) to temporary incidental possession by employees or agents of
20 persons lawfully entitled to possession, or by persons whose possession
21 is for the purpose of aiding public officers in performing their offi-
22 cial duties[.]; or
23 (d) to employees, contractors, and volunteers of the department,
24 directors, managers, employees, contractors, and volunteers of an entity
25 providing drug checking services authorized under section five hundred
26 seven of this chapter, owners of properties where such authorized drug
27 checking services occur, counties, municipalities, or other entities
28 authorized by the department, and individuals presenting drugs or
29 substances for checking, acting in the course and scope of employment or
30 engaged in good faith in the provision of authorized drug checking
31 services, in accordance with established protocols; or
32 (e) to a duly authorized agent of an incorporated society for the
33 prevention of cruelty to animals or a municipal animal control facility
34 for the limited purpose of buying, possessing, and dispensing to regis-
35 tered and certified personnel, ketamine hydrochloride to anesthetize
36 animals and/or sodium pentobarbital to euthanize animals, including but
37 not limited to dogs and cats. The department shall, consistent with the
38 public interest, register such duly authorized agent and such agent
39 shall file, on a quarterly basis, a report of purchase, possession, and
40 use of ketamine hydrochloride and/or sodium pentobarbital, which report
41 shall be certified by the society for the prevention of cruelty to
42 animals or municipal animal control facility as to its accuracy and
43 validity. This report shall be in addition to any other record keeping
44 and reporting requirements of state and federal law and regulation. The
45 department shall adopt rules and regulations providing for the registra-
46 tion and certification of any individual who, under the direction of the
47 duly authorized and registered agent of an incorporated society for the
48 prevention of cruelty to animals, or municipal animal control facility,
49 uses ketamine hydrochloride to anesthetize animals and/or sodium pento-
50 barbital to euthanize animals, including but not limited to dogs and
51 cats. The department may also adopt such other rules and regulations as
52 shall provide for the safe and efficient use of ketamine hydrochloride
53 and/or sodium pentobarbital by incorporated societies for the prevention
54 of cruelty to animals and animal control facilities. Nothing in this
55 paragraph shall be deemed to waive any other requirement imposed on
A. 808--C 4
1 incorporated societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals and
2 animal control facilities by state and federal law and regulation.
3 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
4 subdivisions four and eight of section 507 of the public health law, as
5 added by section one of this act, shall take effect on the ninetieth day
6 after it shall have become a law.
