Delaware Senate Bill 189

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Completed Legislative Action
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-3)
Status: Passed on August 17 2023 - 100% progression
Action: 2023-08-17 - Signed by Governor
Text: Latest bill text (Engrossed) [HTML]

This Act adds xylazine and it isomers, esters, ethers, salts and salts of isomers, esters and ethers to Schedule III of the Delaware Uniform Controlled Substances Act and expands the authorization for the distribution of testing strips to determine the presence of controlled substances. According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, the emergence of xylazine across the United States appears to be following the same path as fentanyl, starting in the Northeast and then spreading to the South and working its way into drug markets westward, and the low cost of xylazine contributes to xylazines increased presence in the nations illegal drug supply. Xylazine is approved only for veterinary use, xylazine is a non-opioid with increasing presence as an adulterant, often in conjunction with opioids, in the illicit drug supply. When used alone and in conjunction with other drugs, xylazine is implicated as a cause or contributing cause of death in the United States. When used in conjunction with an opioid, such as heroin or fentanyl, xylazine may worsen respiratory depression in the event of a drug overdose, and because xylazine is not an opioid, naloxone is not known to be effective at reversing overdoses, and there is no known antidote or reversal agent for xylazine overdose in humans. This Act also exempts testing strips from the drug paraphernalia statute and expands the limitations on liability for lay individuals and organizations that provide a drug testing strip to an individual who uses drugs to reduce the likelihood of the individual experiencing harm.

An Act To Amend Title 16 Of The Delaware Code Relating To The Uniform Controlled Substances Act And Drug Testing Strips.

Sen. Nicole Poore [D]	Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown [D]	Sen. Spiros Mantzavinos [D]	Sen. Brian Pettyjohn [R]
Sen. Bryant Richardson [R]	Sen. Bryan Townsend [D]	Rep. Debra Heffernan [D]	Rep. Jeff Hilovsky [R]

2023-06-30 - House - House Third Reading (Y: 41 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]
2023-06-22 - Senate - Senate Third Reading (Y: 20 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 1) [PASS]

Date	Chamber	Action
2023-08-17		Signed by Governor
2023-06-30		Passed By House. Votes: 41 YES
2023-06-29		Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 3 On Its Merits
2023-06-23		Assigned to Administration Committee in House
2023-06-22		Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 ABSENT
2023-06-22		Amendment SA 1 to SB 189 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 ABSENT
2023-06-22		Amendment SA 1 to SB 189 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
2023-06-21		Reported Out of Committee (Health & Social Services) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits
2023-06-16		Introduced and Assigned to Health & Social Services Committee in Senate

Type	Source
Summary	https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=140658
Text	https://legis.delaware.gov/json/BillDetail/GenerateHtmlDocument?legislationId=140658&legislationTypeId=1&docTypeId=2&legislationName=SB189
Text	https://legis.delaware.gov/json/BillDetail/GenerateHtmlDocumentEngrossment?engrossmentId=36084&docTypeId=6
Roll Call	https://legis.delaware.gov/json/RollCall/GetRollCallVoteByRollCallId#54812
Roll Call	https://legis.delaware.gov/json/RollCall/GetRollCallVoteByRollCallId#55057