BILL NUMBER:  S5112

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to adding W-18 to
the schedule of controlled substances

 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :

Relates to adding W-18 to the schedule of controlled substances

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :

Section 1 adds W-18 (4-chloro-N-{1-{2-(4-
nitrophenyBethy1}2-piperidinylidene}benzenesulfonamide to Subdivision
(b) of Schedule I of Section 3306 of the Public Health Law.

Section 2 provides the effective date.

 JUSTIFICATION :

In recent years, the use of synthetic drugs has become increasingly
widespread. These drugs have been created by manufacturers as an
alternative to already-illegal drugs. This legislation would make W-18
illegal in order to prevent the potentially harmful results of W-18
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 European 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.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

None.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.