Dec. 05, 2017

HARRISBURG – House Judiciary Committee Majority Chairman Ron Marsico (R-Dauphin) moved legislation to limit the sale of over-the-counter cough medicines containing dextromethorphan (DXM) to minors today during the committee’s scheduled weekly voting meeting.

“The House Judiciary Committee recently held an informational meeting where members heard about the alarming variety of harmful substances our children are misusing,” said Marsico. “One such substance was dextromethorphan, which is an ingredient in many over-the-counter cough medicines and is being used by children to mix with other substances to produce a high.”

House Bill 1951 would require merchants to check the age of those who attempt to purchase a product containing DXM to ensure that the purchaser is over 18 years of age. It would create a new summary offense for a person knowingly to sell a DXM product to a minor, or for a person to falsely misrepresent his age to obtain DXM.

In addition to House Bill 1951, two other bills moved through the committee today:
 

  • House Bill 1821 amends the Sexual Assault Testing and Evidence Collection Act to require a health care facility to contact local law enforcement authorities within 12 hours of collection of sexual assault evidence. If the local law enforcement agency does not take possession of the evidence within 72 hours, the facility must notify the Department of Health. 

     

  • House Bill 1952 would address the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Muniz.  In that case, the court held that the Commonwealth’s sexual offender registration act, commonly known as Megan’s Law or the Adam Walsh Act, could not be applied to defendants who committed their crimes before the enactment of the Adam Walsh Act in 2012, based on both the U.S. Constitution and the Pennsylvania Constitution. 

The legislation will now go to the full House for consideration.

Representative Ronald Marsico
105th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
RonMarsico.com
Media Contact: Autumn R. Southard, 717.652.3721
asouthar@pahousegop.com



Share