House Bill 679

(As Sent to Governor)

AN ACT TO ENACT THE VICTORIA HUGGINS' MISSISSIPPI PILL PRESS LAW OF 2022; TO CRIMINALIZE THE UNAUTHORIZED POSSESSION AND TRANSFER OF A PILL PRESS; TO INCLUDE SIMILAR DEVICES WITHIN THE OFFENSE; TO PROVIDE A PENALTY FOR VIOLATION; TO REQUIRE REGISTRATION WITH THE MISSISSIPPI BUREAU OF NARCOTICS, UNLESS THE PILL PRESS IS AUTHORIZED BY THE BOARD OF PHARMACY OR OTHER LAWFUL ENTITY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Possession, transfer or manufacture of a pill press; penalty; registration. (1) This section shall be known and referred to as the "Victoria Huggins' Mississippi Pill Press Law of 2022."

(2) (a) Unless authorized by the State Board of Pharmacy or other lawful authority, it is unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to possess, create, sell, barter, transfer, manufacture, or distribute a pill press, a punch, die, plate, tableting machine, encapsulating machine, or any similar pharmaceutical producing equipment, knowing, intending, or having reasonable cause to believe, that it will be used to manufacture a controlled substance or counterfeit controlled substance.

(b) Any person who violates this subsection shall be, if convicted, imprisoned by not more than five (5) years or fined not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both.

(3) All pill presses, punches, dies, plates, tableting machines, encapsulating machines or any similar pharmaceutical producing equipment shall be registered with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, unless the pill press is authorized by the Board of Pharmacy or other lawful authority. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety shall promulgate rules regarding the registration, transfer and destruction of such equipment and the renewal of registrations, to include inspection of all of equipment registered and any product that the equipment is being used to manufacture.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2022.