Do you support this bill?

Assembly Bill A7720

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Makes the possession of certain amounts of a controlled substance a violation

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Assembly Committee

Please enter your contact information

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

2025-A7720 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:
Assembly Codes
Law Section:
Penal Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §220.03, Pen L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:
2021-2022: A8673
2023-2024: A2355

2025-A7720 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Makes the possession of certain amounts of a controlled substance a violation and no longer a class A misdemeanor.

2025-A7720 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf 

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7720
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               April 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. VANEL -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Codes
 
 AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to making the  possession  of
   certain amounts of a controlled substance a violation
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Section 220.03 of the penal law, as amended by section 4 of
 part I of chapter 57 of the laws  of  2015,  the  opening  paragraph  as
 amended  by  chapter  433  of  the  laws  of 2021, is amended to read as
 follows:
 § 220.03 [Criminal] UNLAWFUL possession of a  controlled  substance  [in
            the seventh degree].
   A  person  is guilty of [criminal] UNLAWFUL possession of a controlled
 substance [in the seventh degree] when [he or she] SUCH PERSON knowingly
 and unlawfully possesses a controlled substance; provided, however, that
 it shall not be a violation of this section when a  person  possesses  a
 residual amount of a controlled substance and that residual amount is in
 or  on  a  hypodermic  syringe  or  hypodermic needle; nor shall it be a
 violation of this section when  a  person's  unlawful  possession  of  a
 controlled  substance  is  discovered  as  a result of seeking immediate
 health care as defined in paragraph (b) of subdivision three of  section
 220.78  of  this  article, for either another person or [him or herself]
 FOR SUCH PRINCIPAL PERSON because such person is experiencing a drug  or
 alcohol  overdose or other life threatening medical emergency as defined
 in paragraph (a) of subdivision three of section 220.78 of this article.
   [Criminal] UNLAWFUL possession  of  a  controlled  substance  [in  the
 seventh degree] is a [class A misdemeanor] VIOLATION.
   §  2.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
 have become a law.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11425-01-5

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.