Sec. 21a-65. (Formerly Sec. 19-209a). Sale of hypodermic needles and syringes restricted.
Sec. 21a-65. (Formerly Sec. 19-209a). Sale of hypodermic needles and syringes
restricted. (a) A licensed manufacturer or licensed wholesaler may sell hypodermic
needles and syringes only to the following: (1) To a licensed manufacturer, licensed
wholesaler or licensed pharmacy; (2) to a physician, dentist, veterinarian, embalmer,
podiatrist or scientific investigator licensed to practice in this state; (3) to a person in
charge of a care-giving institution, as defined in subdivision (2) of section 20-571,
incorporated college or scientific institution, but only for use by or in such care-giving
institution, college or institution for medical or scientific purposes; (4) to a person in
charge of a licensed or registered laboratory, but only for use in that laboratory for
scientific and medical purposes; (5) to a farmer but only for use on the farmer's own
animals or poultry; (6) to a business authorized in accordance with the regulations
adopted under section 21a-66 to purchase hypodermic needles and syringes but only
for legitimate industrial or medical use within that business; and (7) to a needle and
syringe exchange program established pursuant to section 19a-124.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (a) of this section, no licensed manufacturer,
licensed wholesaler or licensed pharmacist shall sell and no person shall buy a hypodermic needle or syringe except upon a prescription of a prescribing practitioner, as defined
in subdivision (22) of section 20-571, in a quantity greater than ten. Any such prescription shall be retained on file by the seller for a period of not less than three years and
shall be accessible to any public officer engaged in the enforcement of this section. Such
a prescription shall be valid for one year from the date thereof and purchases and sales
may be made thereunder during such period, provided the seller shall confirm the continued need for such sales with such practitioner at least every six months if sales continue
to be made thereunder. Hypodermic needles and syringes in a quantity of ten or less
without a prescription may be provided or sold at retail only by the following: (1) By
a pharmacy licensed in accordance with section 20-594 and in such pharmacy only by
a licensed pharmacist or under his direct supervision; (2) by a needle exchange program
established pursuant to section 19a-124; and (3) by a health care facility or a licensed
health care practitioner for use by their own patients.
(c) At all locations where hypodermic needles and syringes are kept they shall be
stored in a manner so as to be available only to authorized personnel and not be openly
available to customers or patients. All used, disposable hypodermic needles and used,
disposable syringes shall be destroyed. Destruction shall be conducted in a manner
which renders such needles and syringes nonrecoverable. Used needles and syringes
which have been discarded and are awaiting destruction shall be securely safeguarded
or rendered nonreusable.
(d) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be fined not more
than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than one year or both.
(1971, P.A. 489, S. 1-3; P.A. 79-457, S. 2, 4; P.A. 83-115; P.A. 90-214, S. 1, 5; P.A. 92-185, S. 1, 6; May Sp. Sess.
P.A. 92-11, S. 65, 70; P.A. 95-264, S. 53; P.A. 99-102, S. 31.)
History: P.A. 79-457 referred to "licensed" manufacturers and wholesalers, replaced "physician licensed to practice
medicine and surgery" with "practitioner, as defined in section 20-184a" and "pharmacist" with "pharmacy", allowed sales
to osteopaths, scientific investigators and those in charge of "care-giving institutions" as defined in Sec. 19-504a (formerly
"hospitals"), added Subdiv. (6) allowing sales to businesses authorized to purchase needles and syringes "only for legitimate
industrial or medical use within that business", required confirmation of continued need for sales every six, rather than
three, months in Subsec. (b) and added new Subsec. (c) re storage and disposal, redesignating former Subsec. (c) as Subsec.
(d); Sec. 19-66a transferred to Sec. 19-209a in 1981; Sec. 19-209a transferred to Sec. 21a-65 in 1983; P.A. 83-115 required
destruction of used syringes and needles, required that destruction render them nonrecoverable and required that they be
safeguarded or rendered nonreusable while awaiting destruction, replacing provision which required only that they "not
be disposed of until they have been rendered nonreusable"; P.A. 90-214 added Subdiv. (7) in Subsec. (a) re needle and
syringe exchange program; P.A. 92-185 amended Subsec. (a) to delete provision re sale "without the prescription of a
practitioner as defined in section 20-184a", amended Subsec. (b) to limit the requirement of a prescription to the sale and
purchase of hypodermic needles or syringes "in a quantity greater than eight" and to add provision that hypodermic needles
and syringes in a quantity of eight or less may be provided or sold at retail without a prescription only by a licensed
pharmacy, a needle exchange program and a health care facility or licensed health care practitioner, amended Subsec. (c)
to require that hypodermic needles and syringes be stored in a manner "so as to be available only to authorized personnel
and not be openly available to customers or patients" rather than "to prevent theft or diversion from their lawful use" and
to delete provision that the purpose of requiring used needles and syringes awaiting destruction to be safeguarded or
rendered nonreusable is "to prevent their theft", and amended Subsec. (d) to delete from the applicability of the penalty
"any person who forges or alters a prescription for the purpose of purchasing a hypodermic needle or syringe in violation
of the provisions of this section"; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-11 amended Subsec. (b) to increase the quantity of needles or
syringes that requires a prescription from "greater than eight" to "greater than ten" and to increase from "eight or less" to
"ten or less" the quantity of needles or syringes which may be provided or sold at retail without a prescription by specified
entities; P.A. 95-264 made technical changes (Revisor's note: The reference in Subsec. (b) to "prescribing practitioner, as
defined in subdivision (21) of ..." was changed editorially by the Revisors to "prescribing practitioner, as defined in
subdivision (22) of ..."); P.A. 99-102 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting an obsolete reference to osteopathy and making
technical changes.