BILL NUMBER: S4459
SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to adding W-18 to the
schedule of controlled substances
 
PURPOSE:
Relates to adding W-18 to the schedule of controlled substances.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: adds W-18 (4-chloro-N-(1-{2-(4-nitrophenyl)ethy1}2- piperidi-
nylidene)benzenesulfonamide to Subdivision (b) of Schedule I of Section
3306 of the Public Health Law.
Section 2: Sets effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In recent years, the use of synthetic drugs has become increasingly
widespread. Manufacturers have created these drugs as an alternative to
already illegal drugs. This legislation would make W18 illegal in order
to prevent the potentially harmful results of W18 from reaching New
York.
W-18, banned in Canada in 2016, was initially created as a pain reliever
and patented in the United States and Canada in 1984, but was only test-
ed on mice and never sold commercially. The 1984 patent for W-18 indi-
cated that no tests could detect the drug in blood or urine. According
to the Canadian Department of Health, "the use of W-18 as a legal
substitute for other controlled substances was first detected in Europe
in 2013, in the context of recreational use. In 2014, W-18 was added to
the Europe Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction (EMCDDA) list of
New Psychoactive Substances." W-18 first appeared in Canada in 2015 in
counterfeit oxycodone tablets. Health Canada also indicates that "the
high analgesic potency of W-18...suggests a potentially severe risk for
overdose" and the drug is being imported from drug labs in China.
The Washington Post reported in 2016 that some experts indicate that
W-18 is 100 times more potent than fentanyl and 10,000 times stronger
than morphine. A portion of W-18 the size of a grain of salt could
potentially be deadly, according to WYSR in Syracuse. While more
research is needed to prove the level of toxicity in W-18, police
departments in Canada indicate that it has been mixed with heroin and
cocaine to create a more dangerous synthetic drug.
In March 2016, a drug dealer in Florida was convicted of smuggling
fentanyl, and law enforcement found more than 2 1/2 pounds of W-18 at
his residence.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
Senate
2017: S5112,Referred to Health
2018: S5112,Referred to Health
2019: S5221,Passed Senate
2020: S5221,Referred to Health
2021: S1774,Referred to Health
2022: S1774,Referred to Health
2023: S1758,Referred to Health
2024: S1758,Referred to Health
Assembly
2017: A3030, Referred to Health
2018: A3030, Referred to Health
2019: A509, Referred to Health
2020: A509, Referred to Health
2021: A486, Referred to Health
2022: A486, Referred to Health
2023: No Assembly Same-As
2024: No Assembly Same-As
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S4459: 3306 public health law