---
type: "Bill"
title: "Drug Control act; distribution of hypodermic needles."
description: "Drug Control act; distribution of hypodermic needles."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 1198"
citation: "Virginia SB 1198 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Saslaw"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 43
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2023-01-10"
last_action: "2023-03-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/12112adb-756e-42e2-9226-3f1a3d499652"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+sum+SB1198"
source_hash: "1fc86961b0a01ed3755e0c3cfa17fb5ceed8c491a9e3a0193bfa276a96831fb0"
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-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 1198 (2023) — Drug Control act; distribution of hypodermic needles.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0143** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+CHAP0143)
2. **Committee substitute printed 23106851D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB1198H1)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23102135D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB1198)
4. **SB1198ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB1198ER)

## Votes

- House substitute rejected by Senate (0-Y 40-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Reported from Education and Health (15-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- VOTE: Adoption (95-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with substitute (21-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Senate acceded to request (40-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper

## Sponsors

- Saslaw — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-10** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23102135D `filing, introduction`
- **2023-01-10** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-11** Assigned Education sub: Health Professions `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-18** Impact statement from DPB (SB1198)
- **2023-01-19** Reported from Education and Health (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-20** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2023-01-23** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2023-01-24** Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-10** Placed on Calendar
- **2023-02-10** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2023-02-10** Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-14** Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with substitute (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-14** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2023-02-14** Committee substitute printed 23106851D-H1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-15** Impact statement from DPB (SB1198H1)
- **2023-02-16** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2023-02-17** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2023-02-17** Committee substitute agreed to 23106851D-H1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-17** Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB1198H1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-17** Passed House with substitute BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-17** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-20** Passed by for the day
- **2023-02-21** House substitute rejected by Senate (0-Y 40-N)
- **2023-02-22** House insisted on substitute `substitution`
- **2023-02-22** House requested conference committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-23** Senate acceded to request (40-Y 0-N)
- **2023-02-23** Conferees appointed by Senate
- **2023-02-23** Senators: Saslaw, Locke, Dunnavant
- **2023-02-23** Conferees appointed by House
- **2023-02-23** Delegates: Brewer, Hodges, Hope
- **2023-02-23** Amended by conference committee
- **2023-02-24** Conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-02-24** Conference report agreed to by House (95-Y 0-N) `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-02-24** VOTE: Adoption (95-Y 0-N)
- **2023-03-07** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-03-07** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1198ER) `passage`
- **2023-03-08** Impact statement from DPB (SB1198ER)
- **2023-03-08** Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-03-08** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-03-13** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 13, 2023 `enrolled`
- **2023-03-13** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023 `executive-receipt`
- **2023-03-21** Approved by Governor-Chapter 143 (effective 7/1/23) `executive-signature`
- **2023-03-21** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0143)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/12112adb-756e-42e2-9226-3f1a3d499652`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).