Introduced Version
House Bill 2244 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2244
(By Delegate Manypenny)
[Introduced February 13, 2013; referred to the
Committee on Health and Human Resources then the
Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §60A-2-201 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to providing that a plant
based substance or biological organism which has been
scientifically studied and determined to provide any potential
medical benefit may not be designated or rescheduled as a
Class I or II controlled substance.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §60A-2-201 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. STANDARDS AND SCHEDULES.
§60A-2-201. Authority of State Board of Pharmacy; recommendations
to Legislature.
(a) The State Board of Pharmacy shall administer the
provisions of this chapter. It shall also, on the first day of each regular legislative session, recommend to the Legislature
which substances should be added to or deleted from the schedules
of controlled substances contained in this article or reschedule
therein. The State Board of Pharmacy shall also have the authority
between regular legislative sessions, on an emergency basis, to add
to or delete from the schedules of controlled substances contained
in this article or reschedule such substances based upon the
recommendations and approval of the federal food, drug and cosmetic
agency, and shall report such actions on the first day of the
regular legislative session immediately following said actions.
In making any such recommendation regarding a substance, the
State Board of Pharmacy shall consider the following factors:
(1) The actual or relative potential for abuse;
(2) The scientific evidence of its pharmacological effect, if
known;
(3) The state of current scientific knowledge regarding the
substance;
(4) The history and current pattern of abuse;
(5) The scope, duration and significance of abuse;
(6) The potential of the substance to produce psychic or
physiological dependence liability; and
(7) Whether the substance is an immediate precursor of a
substance already controlled under this article.
(b) After considering the factors enumerated in subsection (a), the State Board of Pharmacy shall make findings with respect
to the substance under consideration. If it finds that any
substance not already controlled under any schedule has a potential
for abuse, it shall recommend to the Legislature that the substance
be added to the appropriate schedule. If it finds that any
substance already controlled under any schedule should be
rescheduled or deleted, it shall so recommend to the Legislature:
Provided, That notwithstanding any provision in this chapter, a
plant based substance or biological organism which has been
scientifically studied and determined to provide any potential
medical benefit may not be designated or rescheduled as a Class I
or II controlled substance.
(c) If the State Board of Pharmacy designates a substance as
an immediate precursor, substances which are precursors of the
controlled precursor shall not be subject to control solely because
they are precursors of the controlled precursor.
(d) If any substance is designated, rescheduled or deleted as
a controlled substance under federal laws and notice thereof is
given to the State Board of Pharmacy, the board shall recommend
similar control of such substance to the Legislature, specifically
stating that such recommendation is based on federal action and the
reasons why the federal government deemed such action necessary and
proper.
(e) The authority vested in the board by subsection (a) of this section shall not extend to distilled spirits, wine, malt
beverages or tobacco as those terms are defined or used in other
chapters of this code nor to any nonnarcotic substance if such
substance may under the "Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act" and
the law of this state lawfully be sold over the counter without a
prescription.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that a plant
based substance or biological organism which has been
scientifically studied and determined to provide any potential
medical benefit may not be designated or rescheduled as a Class I
or II controlled substance.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.