(A) Improper dispensing or distribution.
(1) No person who dispenses or distributes nitrous oxide in cartridges shall fail to comply with either of the following:
(a) The record-keeping requirements established under division (A)(3) below.
(b) The labeling and transaction identification requirements established under division (A)(4) below.
(2) Whoever violates divisions (A)(1)(a) or (A)(1)(b) above is guilty of improperly dispensing or distributing nitrous oxide, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
(3) Beginning July 1, 2001, a person who dispenses or distributes nitrous oxide shall record each transaction involving the dispensing or distribution of the nitrous oxide on a separate card. The person shall require the purchaser to sign the card and provide a complete residence address. The person dispensing or distributing the nitrous oxide shall sign and date the card. The person shall retain the card recording a transaction for one year from the date of the transaction. The person shall maintain the cards at the person’s business address and make them available during normal business hours for inspection and copying by officers or employees of the State Board of Pharmacy or of other law enforcement agencies that are authorized to investigate violations of this code, R.C. Chs. 2925, 3719, or 4729, or federal drug abuse control laws. The cards used to record each transaction shall inform the purchaser of the following:
(a) That nitrous oxide cartridges are to be used only for purposes of preparing food;
(b) That inhalation of nitrous oxide can have dangerous health effects; and
(c) That it is a violation of state law to distribute or dispense cartridges of nitrous oxide to any person under age 21, punishable as a felony of the fifth degree.
(4) (a) Each cartridge of nitrous oxide dispensed or distributed in this municipality shall bear the following printed warning: “Nitrous oxide cartridges are to be used only for purposes of preparing food. Nitrous oxide cartridges may not be sold to persons under age 21. Do not inhale contents. Misuse can be dangerous to your health.”
(b) Each time a person dispenses or distributes one or more cartridges of nitrous oxide, the person shall mark the packaging containing the cartridges with a label or other device that identifies the person who dispensed or distributed the nitrous oxide and the person’s business address.
(R.C. § 2925.32(B)(4), (D)(2), (F), (G))
(B) Possession in a motor vehicle.
(1) As used in this section,
MOTOR VEHICLE, STREET and HIGHWAY have the same meaning as in R.C. § 4511.01.
(2) Unless authorized by this code or by state law, no person shall possess an open cartridge of nitrous oxide in either of the following circumstances:
(a) While operating or being a passenger in or on a motor vehicle on a street, highway, or other public or private property open to the public for purposes of vehicular traffic or parking.
(b) While being in or on a stationary motor vehicle on a street, highway, or other public or private property open to the public for purposes of vehicular traffic or parking.
(3) Whoever violates this division (B) is guilty of possessing nitrous oxide in a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
(4) In addition to any other sanction imposed upon an offender for possessing nitrous oxide in a motor vehicle, the court may suspend for not more than five years the offender’s driver’s or commercial driver’s license or permit.
(R.C. § 2925.33)
(2000 Code, § 138.10)
Statutory reference:
Trafficking in harmful intoxicants, see R.C. § 2925.32