Bill Text: NJ S3164 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires locking medicine cabinets in newly constructed homes.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-05-08 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee [S3164 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-S3164-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH F. VITALE
District 19 (Middlesex)
Senator ROBERT W. SINGER
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Requires locking medicine cabinets in newly constructed homes.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act requiring locking medicine cabinets in newly constructed homes and supplementing P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-119 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. In the case of new residential construction, a residence shall be equipped with a lockable medicine cabinet in at least one room. This requirement shall apply to all new residential construction, including, but not limited to construction of single-family dwellings, two-family dwellings, multiple dwellings as defined under subsection (k) of section 3 of the "Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law," P.L.1967, c.76 (C.55:13A-3), and group homes, supervised apartments, and other types of shared living environments.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month next following enactment, and shall apply to any new residence for which the initial certificate of occupancy is not issued as of the effective date.
STATEMENT
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 183,000 people have died in the United States from overdoses related to prescription opioids between 1999 and 2015. Prescription opioids and other medications may pose a danger to children and others for whom the medicines are not intended. Many people access opioids for the first time through unlocked medicine cabinets. This bill intends to address this problem though requiring the installation of lockable medicine cabinets in newly constructed homes.
Specifically, the bill requires that any new residential construction project shall be equipped with a lockable medicine cabinet in at least one room per unit. This requirement would apply broadly to all new residential construction, including, but not limited to construction of single-family dwellings, two-family dwellings, multiple dwellings, and group homes, supervised apartments and other types of shared living environments. The effective date of the bill is delayed until the first day of the third month next following enactment, and the lockable medicine cabinet requirement would be applicable to any new residential construction for which a certificate of occupancy was not issued on or before the effective date.
