---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO BENZODIAZEPINE AND NON-BENZODIAZEPINE HYPNOTICS."
description: "This bill creates regulations concerning the use, distribution and education of Benzodiazepine and Non-benzodiazepine Hypnotics. It require Practitioners to obtain consent from a minor’s parent or guardian prior to prescribing these drugs, and require pharmacist to include a cautionary statement explaining the risks associated with the long term use of these drugs."
jurisdiction: "us/states/de"
legislature: "Delaware General Assembly"
session: "149"
identifier: "HB 331"
citation: "Delaware HB 331 (149)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["John A. Kowalko", "John Walsh", "Margaret Rose Henry"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 11
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2018-03-01"
last_action: "2018-09-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b2236a52-a477-47d8-91ee-0409feadc25c"
source_url: "https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=26333"
source_hash: "a840325998becc76444de78bdb336f568398e8ad6f7e9ec1f4fe9dde0cba0247"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-de"]
---

# Delaware HB 331 (149) — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO BENZODIAZEPINE AND NON-BENZODIAZEPINE HYPNOTICS.

This bill creates regulations concerning the use, distribution and education of Benzodiazepine and Non-benzodiazepine Hypnotics. It require Practitioners to obtain consent from a minor’s parent or guardian prior to prescribing these drugs, and require pharmacist to include a cautionary statement explaining the risks associated with the long term use of these drugs.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Bill Text** (committee substitute) — [source](https://legis.delaware.gov/json/BillDetail/GenerateHtmlDocument?legislationId=26333&legislationTypeId=1&docTypeId=2&legislationName=HB331)

## Votes

- SM — **39–0** (pass) · lower
- SM — **19–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- John A. Kowalko — primary (person)
- John Walsh — primary (person)
- Margaret Rose Henry — primary (person)
- Brian J. Bushweller — cosponsor (person)
- Charles Potter Jr. — cosponsor (person)
- Edward S. Osienski — cosponsor (person)
- Gerald L. Brady — cosponsor (person)
- Helene M. Keeley — cosponsor (person)
- James Johnson — cosponsor (person)
- John L. Mitchell — cosponsor (person)
- Kimberly Williams — cosponsor (person)
- Michael Ramone — cosponsor (person)
- Richard G. Collins — cosponsor (person)
- Stephanie T. Bolden — cosponsor (person)
- Stephen Smyk — cosponsor (person)
- Trey Charles Paradee — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-03-01** Introduced and Assigned to Health & Human Development Committee in House `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2018-03-28** Amendment HA 1 to HB 331 - Introduced and Placed With Bill `amendment-introduction`
- **2018-03-28** Reported Out of Committee (Health & Human Development) in House with 12 On Its Merits `committee-passage`
- **2018-04-18** Amendment HA 1 to HA 1 - Introduced and Placed With Bill `amendment-introduction`
- **2018-04-19** Amendment HA 1 to HA 1 - Passed In House by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
- **2018-04-19** Amendment HA 1 to HB 331 - Passed In House by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
- **2018-04-19** Passed By House. Votes: 39 YES 2 ABSENT `passage`
- **2018-04-25** Assigned to Health, Children & Social Services Committee in Senate `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2018-06-13** Reported Out of Committee (Health, Children & Social Services) in Senate with 3 On Its Merits `committee-passage`
- **2018-06-27** Passed By Senate. Votes: 19 YES 2 ABSENT `passage`
- **2018-09-04** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b2236a52-a477-47d8-91ee-0409feadc25c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Delaware legislature records).