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AB-1341 Dietary supplements for weight loss and over-the-counter diet pills.(2021-2022)

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Date Published: 02/20/2021 04:00 AM
AB1341:v99#DOCUMENT


CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1341

Introduced by Assembly Member Cristina Garcia

February 19, 2021

An act to add Section 110423.7 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to public health.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1341, as introduced, Cristina Garcia. Dietary supplements for weight loss and over-the-counter diet pills.
Existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, provides for the regulation of various subjects relating to the processing, labeling, advertising, and sale of food, drugs, and cosmetics, including dietary supplements, under the administration and enforcement of the State Department of Public Health. Under existing law, it is a misdemeanor for any manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, or other person to sell, transfer, or otherwise furnish a dietary supplement containing ephedrine group alkaloids or other specified substances to a person under 18 years of age, and a seller is required to request a valid identification of prospective purchasers who reasonably appear to be under 18 years of age.
Existing law, the Unfair Practices Act, prohibits certain acts of unfair competition and a violation of the act is subject to civil liability and constitutes a crime subject to specified fines and penalties.
This bill, commencing July 1, 2022, would prohibit a retail establishment from selling dietary supplements for weight loss and over-the-counter diet pills, as defined, to any person under 18 years of age. The bill would require a retail establishment, among other things, to limit access to those products, as specified, and would require the department to determine which products will be subject to those access limitations. The bill would also require the department to develop a health-related notice regarding those products, and would require a retail establishment to conspicuously post that notice at each purchase counter. The bill would make a violation of these provisions by a retail establishment subject to a civil penalty of no more than $1,000 and subject to the Unfair Practices Act as an unfair practice. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 110423.7 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

110423.7.
 (a) As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Dietary supplements for weight loss” means a class of dietary supplements sold for or used with the intent to achieve weight loss that are lawfully sold, transferred, or furnished over the counter, with or without a prescription, under the regulation of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. Sec. 301 et seq.), and regulations adopted thereunder. “Dietary supplements for weight loss” may include, but are not limited to, thermogens, lipotropics, hormones, including hormone modulators and hormone mimetics, appetite suppressants, and ingredients deemed adulterated under Section 342 of Title 21 of the United States Code.
(2) “Lipotropics” means compounds that help break down fat during body metabolism.
(3) “Over-the-counter diet pills” means a class of drugs sold for or used with the intent to achieve weight loss that are lawfully sold, transferred, or furnished without a prescription, under the regulation of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. Sec. 301 et seq.), and regulations adopted thereunder. “Over-the-counter diet pills” may include, but are not limited to, thermogens, lipotropics, hormones, including hormone modulators and hormone mimetics, appetite suppressants, and ingredients deemed adulterated under Section 342 of Title 21 of the United States Code.
(4) “Retail establishment” means any vendor that, in the regular course of business, sells dietary supplements for weight loss or over-the-counter diet pills at retail directly to the public, including, but not limited to, pharmacies, grocery stores, mail-order or internet sale, and other retail stores.
(5) “Thermogens” means substances that produce heat in the body and promote more calorie burning.
(b) A retail establishment shall not sell, transfer, or otherwise furnish dietary supplements for weight loss or over-the-counter diet pills to any person under 18 years of age.
(c) A retail establishment shall do all of the following with respect to the dietary supplements for weight loss and over-the-counter diet pills determined by the State Department of Public Health to be subject to this subdivision:
(1) Limit access to those products in a manner designed to prevent the misuse or abuse of those products.
(2) Prohibit direct access to those products by customers, and limit direct access only to managers, assistant managers, acting managers, or any other supervisory personnel at the retail establishment.
(3) Require a customer to request a purchase, transfer, or furnishing of those products directly to the manager, assistant manager, acting manager, or other supervisory personnel at the retail establishment.
(d) A retail establishment shall conspicuously post at each purchase counter the notice developed by the State Department of Public Health pursuant to subdivision (e).
(e) (1)   The State Department of Public Health, in consultation with the United States Food and Drug Administration and stakeholders, including, but not limited to, representatives from the eating disorders community, shall determine which dietary supplements for weight loss and over-the-counter diet pills shall be subject to the access limitations described in subdivision (c).
(2) The State Department of Public Health shall develop a notice for distribution to retail establishments to post that certain dietary supplements for weight loss or over-the-counter diet pills are known to cause gastrointestinal impairment, tachycardia, hypertension, myocardial infarction, stroke, organ failure, other serious injury, death, and severe liver injury sometimes requiring transplant or leading to death.
(f) Notwithstanding Section 111825, a violation of subdivision (b), (c), or (d) shall be punishable by a civil penalty of no more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(g) A violation of this section shall constitute an unfair practice subject to the Unfair Practices Act (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 17000) of Part 2 of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code).
(h) This section shall become operative July 1, 2022.

SEC. 2.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.