Delaware General Assembly


CHAPTER 376

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11, DELAWARE CODE, ENTITLED "CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE" BY PROHIBITING FUME SNIFFING.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Delaware (two-thirds of all the Members elected to each House thereof concurring therein):

Section 1. Title 11, Delaware Code, is amended by adding thereto a new subchapter to read :

SUBCHAPTER LVIII. FUME SNIFFING

§ 922. Definitions

As used in this subchapter:

"substance having the property of releasing toxic vapors or fumes" means any material, product, or article of commerce containing one or more of the following chemical compounds: acetone, amyl acetate, benzene, butanol-2, butyl acetate, butyl alcohol, chloroform, cyclohexanone, ethyl acetate, ethyl alcohol, methyl ethyl ketone, petroleum ether, tolune, trichloro ethylene and 1,1,1-trichloroethane.

§ 923. Prohibited acts

No person shall:

(a) intentionally smell or inhale the vapors or fumes from any substance having the property of releasing toxic vapors or fumes for the purpose of producing in himself a condition of intoxication, inebriation, exhilaration, stupefaction, or lethargy or for the purpose of dulling his brain or nervous system; provided, that nothing in this section shall prohibit the inhalation of the vapors or fumes of any anesthesia for medical or dental purposes;

(b) sell or offer to sell to any other person any material, product, or article of commerce containing any substance having a property of releasing toxic vapors or fumes, if he has knowledge or is in the possession of such facts that he should have knowledge, that the material, product or article of commerce sold or offered for sale will be used for the purpose of committing any of the acts proscribed in subsection (a) of this section;

(c) purchase or offer to purchase for himself or any other person, any material, product, or article of commerce containing any substance having the property of releasing toxic vapors and fumes if such purchase or offer to purchase is made for the purpose of committing any of the acts prescribed in subsection (a) of this section; or

(d) possess any material, product, or article of commerce containing a substance having the property of releasing toxic vapors and fumes if such possession is for the purpose of committing any of the acts proscribed in subsection (a) of this section.

§ 924. Penalties; jurisdiction

(a) Any person who violates any of the provisions of this subchapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be subject to a fine of not more than $100, or imprisonment for not more than 60 days, or both.

(b) Justices of the Peace shall have jurisdiction over offenses committed pursuant to this subchapter.

Approved June 16, 1966.

Note: This act was codified as § Title 11, Delaware

Code.