Bill Text: TX HB1955 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to false or misleading packaging, labeling, or advertising of certain abusable synthetic substances; providing civil penalties; creating a criminal offense.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-05-12 - Laid on the table subject to call [HB1955 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-HB1955-Comm_Sub.html
84R21254 JSC-D | |||
By: Parker | H.B. No. 1955 | ||
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1955: | |||
By: Herrero | C.S.H.B. No. 1955 |
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relating to false or misleading packaging, labeling, or advertising | ||
of certain abusable synthetic substances; providing civil | ||
penalties; creating a criminal offense. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 6, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended by adding Chapter 484 to read as follows: | ||
CHAPTER 484. ABUSABLE SYNTHETIC SUBSTANCES | ||
Sec. 484.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: | ||
(1) "Abusable synthetic substance" means a substance | ||
that: | ||
(A) is not otherwise regulated under this title | ||
or under federal law; | ||
(B) is intended to mimic a controlled substance | ||
or controlled substance analogue; and | ||
(C) when inhaled, ingested, or otherwise | ||
introduced into a person's body: | ||
(i) produces an effect on the central | ||
nervous system similar to the effect produced by a controlled | ||
substance or controlled substance analogue; | ||
(ii) creates a condition of intoxication, | ||
hallucination, or elation similar to a condition produced by a | ||
controlled substance or controlled substance analogue; or | ||
(iii) changes, distorts, or disturbs the | ||
person's eyesight, thinking process, balance, or coordination in a | ||
manner similar to a controlled substance or controlled substance | ||
analogue. | ||
(2) "Business" includes trade and commerce and | ||
advertising, selling, and buying service or property. | ||
(3) "Mislabeled" means varying from the standard of | ||
truth or disclosure in labeling prescribed by law or set by | ||
established commercial usage. | ||
(4) "Sell" and "sale" include offer for sale, | ||
advertise for sale, expose for sale, keep for the purpose of sale, | ||
deliver for or after sale, solicit and offer to buy, and every | ||
disposition for value. | ||
Sec. 484.002. PROHIBITED ACTS. (a) A person commits an | ||
offense if in the course of business the person knowingly produces, | ||
distributes, sells, or offers for sale a mislabeled abusable | ||
synthetic substance. | ||
(b) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor, | ||
except that the offense is a Class A misdemeanor if it is shown on | ||
the trial of the offense that the actor has previously been | ||
convicted of an offense under this section or of an offense under | ||
Section 32.42(b)(4), Penal Code, and the adulterated or mislabeled | ||
commodity was an abusable synthetic substance. | ||
(c) If conduct constituting an offense under this section | ||
also constitutes an offense under another provision of law, the | ||
person may be prosecuted under either this section or the other | ||
provision. | ||
Sec. 484.003. CIVIL PENALTY. (a) The attorney general or a | ||
district, county, or city attorney may institute an action in | ||
district court to collect a civil penalty from a person who in the | ||
course of business produces, distributes, sells, or offers for sale | ||
a mislabeled abusable synthetic substance. | ||
(b) The civil penalty may not exceed $25,000 a day for each | ||
offense. Each day an offense is committed constitutes a separate | ||
violation for purposes of the penalty assessment. | ||
(c) The court shall consider the following in determining | ||
the amount of the penalty: | ||
(1) the person's history of any previous offenses | ||
under Section 484.002 or under Section 32.42(b)(4), Penal Code, | ||
relating to the sale of a mislabeled abusable synthetic substance; | ||
(2) the seriousness of the offense; | ||
(3) any hazard posed to the public health and safety by | ||
the offense; and | ||
(4) demonstrations of good faith by the person | ||
charged. | ||
(d) Venue for a suit brought under this section is in the | ||
city or county in which the offense occurred or in Travis County. | ||
(e) A civil penalty recovered in a suit instituted by a | ||
local government under this section shall be paid to that local | ||
government. | ||
Sec. 484.004. AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE. It is an affirmative | ||
defense to prosecution or liability under this chapter that: | ||
(1) the abusable synthetic substance was approved for | ||
use, sale, or distribution by the United States Food and Drug | ||
Administration or other state or federal regulatory agency with | ||
authority to approve the substance's use, sale, or distribution; | ||
and | ||
(2) the abusable synthetic substance was lawfully | ||
produced, distributed, sold, or offered for sale by the person who | ||
is the subject of the criminal or civil action. | ||
Sec. 484.005. NO DEFENSE. In a prosecution or civil action | ||
under this chapter, the fact that the abusable synthetic substance | ||
was in packaging labeled with "Not for Human Consumption," or other | ||
wording indicating the substance is not intended to be ingested, is | ||
not a defense. | ||
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |