NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7748
SPONSOR: Braunstein 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-(1-12-(4-nitrophenyflethy1}2-
piperidinylidenelbenzenesulfonamide 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. These drugs have been created by manufacturers as an alter-
native 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, which was banned in Canada in 2016, was originally created as a
pain reliever and patented in the United States and Canada in 1984, but
was only tested on mice and never sold commercially. The 1984 patent for
W-18 indicated that there were no tests which 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 an 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 potential 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
2017-2018- S5112, Referred to Health
2020 - S5221, Referred to Health
2021-2022- S1774, Referred to Health Assembly
2017-2018- A3030, Referred to Health
2020- A509, Referred to Health
2021-2022- A486, Referred to Health
2023-2024 - A.9485 Referred to Health.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS::
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE::
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7748
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BRAUNSTEIN -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to adding W-18 to the
schedule of controlled substances
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision (b) of schedule I of section 3306 of the public
2 health law is amended by adding a new paragraph 93 to read as follows:
3 (93) W-18 (4-chloro-N-{1-{2-(4-nitrophenyl)ethyl}2piperidinyli-
4 dene}benzenesulfonamide).
5 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06982-01-5
