2023 New York Laws › PBH - Public Health › Article 33 - Controlled Substances › Title 7 - Offenses, Violations and Enforcement › 3381 - Sale and Possession of Hypodermic Syringes and Hypodermic Needles.

§  3381.  Sale  and  possession  of hypodermic syringes and hypodermic
needles. 1. It shall be unlawful for any person to sell  or  furnish  to
another  person  or  persons,  a hypodermic syringe or hypodermic needle
except:
(a) pursuant to a  prescription  of  a  practitioner,  which  for  the
purposes  of  this section shall include a patient specific prescription
form as provided for in the education law; or
(b) to persons who have been authorized by the commissioner to  obtain
and possess such instruments; or
(c)  by  a pharmacy licensed under article one hundred thirty-seven of
the  education  law,  health  care  facility  licensed   under   article
twenty-eight  of  this  chapter  or  a  health  care practitioner who is
otherwise authorized to prescribe  the  use  of  hypodermic  needles  or
syringes  within  his  or her scope of practice; provided, however, that
such sale or furnishing: (i) shall only be to a person eighteen years of
age or older; and (ii) shall be in accordance with subdivision  four  of
this section; or
(d) under subdivision three of this section.
2. Any person selling or furnishing a hypodermic syringe or hypodermic
needle  pursuant  to  a prescription shall record upon the prescription,
his or her signature or electronic signature, and the date of  the  sale
or  furnishing  of  the  hypodermic  syringe  or hypodermic needle. Such
prescription shall be retained on file for a period of five years and be
readily accessible for inspection by  any  public  officer  or  employee
engaged  in  the  enforcement  of this section. Such prescription may be
refilled not more than the number of times  specifically  authorized  by
the   prescriber   upon  the  prescription,  provided  however  no  such
authorization shall be effective for a period  greater  than  two  years
from the date the prescription is signed.
3.  The  commissioner  shall,  subject  to  subdivision  four  of this
section, designate persons, or by regulation, classes of persons who may
obtain hypodermic syringes and hypodermic needles  without  prescription
and the manner in which such transactions may take place and the records
thereof which shall be maintained.
4.  (a) A person eighteen years of age or older may obtain and possess
a hypodermic syringe or hypodermic needle pursuant to paragraph  (c)  of
subdivision one of this section.
(b)  Subject  to  regulations of the commissioner, a pharmacy licensed
under article one hundred thirty-seven of the education  law,  a  health
care  facility  licensed under article twenty-eight of this chapter or a
health care practitioner who is otherwise authorized  to  prescribe  the
use  of  hypodermic  needles  or  syringes  within  his  or her scope of
practice, may obtain and possess hypodermic needles or syringes for  the
purpose  of  selling  or  furnishing  them  pursuant to paragraph (c) of
subdivision one of this section or for the purpose of disposing of them.
(c) Sale or furnishing of hypodermic syringes or hypodermic needles to
direct consumers pursuant to this subdivision by a pharmacy, health care
facility, or health care practitioner shall be accompanied by  a  safety
insert.  Such  safety  insert  shall  be  developed  or  approved by the
commissioner and shall include, but not be limited to,  (i)  information
on  the  proper  use of hypodermic syringes and hypodermic needles; (ii)
the risk of blood borne  diseases  that  may  result  from  the  use  of
hypodermic syringes and hypodermic needles; (iii) methods for preventing
the  transmission  or  contraction  of blood borne diseases; (iv) proper
hypodermic  syringe  and  hypodermic  needle  disposal  practices;   (v)
information on the dangers of injection drug use, and how to access drug
treatment;  (vi)  a  toll-free phone number for information on the human
immunodeficiency virus; and (vii) information on the  safe  disposal  of

hypodermic  syringes  and  hypodermic  needles  including  the  relevant
provisions  of  the  environmental  conservation  law  relating  to  the
unlawful  release of regulated medical waste. The safety insert shall be
attached  to or included in the hypodermic syringe and hypodermic needle
packaging, or shall be given to the purchaser at the point  of  sale  or
furnishing in brochure form.
(d)  In  addition  to the requirements of paragraph (c) of subdivision
one of this section, a  pharmacy  licensed  under  article  one  hundred
thirty-seven of the education law may sell or furnish hypodermic needles
or  syringes only if such pharmacy stores such needles and syringes in a
manner that makes them available only to authorized  personnel  and  not
openly available to customers.
(e)  A  pharmacy  registered under article one hundred thirty-seven of
the  education  law  may  offer  counseling  and  referral  services  to
customers  purchasing hypodermic syringes for the purpose of: preventing
injection drug abuse; the provision of drug  treatment;  preventing  and
treating  hepatitis  C;  preventing drug overdose; testing for the human
immunodeficiency  virus;  and  providing  pre-exposure  prophylaxis  and
non-occupational   post-exposure   prophylaxis.   The  content  of  such
counseling and referral shall be at the professional discretion  of  the
pharmacist.
(f)  The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary
to implement the provisions of this subdivision which shall include: (i)
standards for advertising to the public the availability for retail sale
or furnishing of hypodermic syringes or needles; and (ii) a  requirement
that   such   pharmacies,   health   care  facilities  and  health  care
practitioners cooperate in a safe disposal of used hypodermic needles or
syringes.
(g) The commissioner may, upon the finding  of  a  violation  of  this
section, suspend for a determinate period of time the sale or furnishing
of syringes by a specific entity.
5.  The  provisions of this section shall not apply to farmers engaged
in livestock production or to those persons supplying farmers engaged in
livestock production, provided that:
(a) Hypodermic syringes and needles  shall  be  stored  in  a  secure,
locked storage container.
(b) At any time the department may request a document outlining:
(i)  the  number of hypodermic needles and syringes purchased over the
past calendar year;
(ii) a record of all hypodermic needles used over  the  past  calendar
year; and
(iii)  a  record of all hypodermic needles and syringes destroyed over
the past calendar year.
(c) Hypodermic needles and syringes shall be  destroyed  in  a  manner
consistent with the provisions set forth in section thirty-three hundred
eighty-one-a of this article.