---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TIANEPTINE."
description: "This Act bans the sale of Tianeptine in the State by identifying it as a Schedule I controlled substance. Tianeptine, also known as “gas station heroin,” is an antidepressant drug that is not approved by the FDA and is being sold as a dietary supplement in gas stations and other shops. This Act requires approval by a two-thirds vote because the statutory change will result in the expansion of an existing misdemeanor."
jurisdiction: "us/states/de"
legislature: "Delaware General Assembly"
session: "153"
identifier: "HB 21"
citation: "Delaware HB 21 (153)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Brian Pettyjohn", "Bryant L. Richardson", "Claire Snyder-Hall", "Cyndie Romer", "Eric Morrison", "Franklin D. Cooke", "Kerri Evelyn Harris", "Kimberly Williams", "Laura V. Sturgeon", "Mara Gorman", "Marie Pinkney", "Melanie Ross Levin", "Nicole Poore", "Russell Huxtable", "Sarah McBride"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 10
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2024-12-19"
last_action: "2025-07-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ba62ca26-a78e-44d8-aecc-b72b79683b16"
source_url: "https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=141727"
source_hash: "6be7425b69ef300dedca64f780ee17cc36bbc62690c265b4e3254b34b89a1e7f"
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 21 (153) — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TIANEPTINE.

This Act bans the sale of Tianeptine in the State by identifying it as a Schedule I controlled substance. Tianeptine, also known as “gas station heroin,” is an antidepressant drug that is not approved by the FDA and is being sold as a dietary supplement in gas stations and other shops. This Act requires approval by a two-thirds vote because the statutory change will result in the expansion of an existing misdemeanor.

## Version chain

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

1. **SA 1 to HB 21** (committee substitute) — [source](http://legis.delaware.gov/json/BillDetail/GeneratePdfDocument?legislationId=142659&legislationTypeId=5&docTypeId=2)

## Votes

- 2/3 — **36–0** (pass) · lower
- 2/3 — **21–0** (pass) · upper
- 2/3 — **37–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Brian Pettyjohn — primary (person)
- Bryant L. Richardson — primary (person)
- Claire Snyder-Hall — primary (person)
- Cyndie Romer — primary (person)
- Eric Morrison — primary (person)
- Franklin D. Cooke — primary (person)
- Kerri Evelyn Harris — primary (person)
- Kimberly Williams — primary (person)
- Laura V. Sturgeon — primary (person)
- Mara Gorman — primary (person)
- Marie Pinkney — primary (person)
- Melanie Ross Levin — primary (person)
- Nicole Poore — primary (person)
- Russell Huxtable — primary (person)
- Sarah McBride — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-12-19** Introduced and Assigned to Health & Human Development Committee in House `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2025-01-29** Reported Out of Committee (Health & Human Development) in House with 9 Favorable, 3 On Its Merits `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-03-20** Passed By House. Votes: 36 YES 5 ABSENT `passage`
- **2025-03-20** Assigned to Health & Social Services Committee in Senate `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2025-03-26** Reported Out of Committee (Health & Social Services) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 3 On Its Merits, 1 Unfavorable `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2025-06-30** Amendment SA 1 to HB 21 - Introduced and Placed With Bill `amendment-introduction`
- **2025-06-30** Amendment SA 1 to HB 21 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES `amendment-passage`
- **2025-06-30** Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES `passage`
- **2025-06-30** Passed By House. Votes: 37 YES 3 ABSENT 1 VACANT `passage`
- **2025-07-21** 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/ba62ca26-a78e-44d8-aecc-b72b79683b16`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Delaware legislature records).