N.Y. GBS Law § 831

§ 831. Sale or promotional distribution of dietary supplements\ncontaining ephedra. 1. No person, firm, corporation, partnership,\nassociation, limited liability company, or other entity shall sell or\noffer to sell or give away, as either a retail or wholesale promotion, a\ndietary supplement containing any quantity of ephedra within New York\nstate, except as authorized by subdivision three of this section.\n 2. For purposes of this section, the following terms have the\nfollowing meanings:\n (a) "dietary supplement" means (1) a product (other than tobacco) that\nis intended to supplement the diet and that bears or contains one or\nmore of the following dietary ingredients: a vitamin, a mineral, an herb\nor other botanical, an amino acid, a dietary substance for the use by a\nperson to supplement the diet by increasing the total daily intake, or a\nconcentrate, metabolite, constituent, extract, or combinations of these\ningredients; (2) intended for ingestion in pill, capsule, tablet, or\nliquid form; and (3) labeled as a "dietary supplement" pursuant to the\nfederal Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, 21 U.S.C. 321, as\namended.\n (b) "ephedra" means any natural or synthetic form of ephedrine and\nephedrine alkaloids.\n 3. (a) Nothing in this section shall apply to nonprescription\nover-the-counter drugs approved or regulated by the Food and Drug\nAdministration.\n (b) This section shall not apply to ma huang (ephedra sinica) sold or\ndispensed by any practitioner of oriental medicine, whose qualification\nto use ma huang and other herbs is explicitly established via evidence\nof an active certification issued to such individual from an entity\naccredited by the National Commission of Certifying Agencies (NCCA) and\nwho is not otherwise required to be licensed by the state of New York,\nor any physician or any practitioner of acupuncture licensed by the\nstate of New York as long as it is not sold or dispensed as a dietary\nsupplement for weight loss, for body building, or as an "energy food".\n 4. Any person, firm, corporation, partnership, association, limited\nliability company, or other entity that violates the provisions of this\nsection by selling, offering to sell, or giving away as either a retail\nor wholesale promotion, a dietary supplement containing any quantity of\nephedrine alkaloids shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than\nfive hundred dollars per violation, recoverable in an action by any\nenforcement authority designated by any municipality or political\nsubdivision.\n 5. It shall be a defense that any person, firm, corporation,\npartnership, association, limited liability company, or other entity\nthat sold, offered for sale, or gave away as either a retail or\nwholesale promotion a dietary supplement, did not have knowledge that\nthe supplement contained any quantity of ephedrine alkaloids, if such\nknowledge was not reasonably discoverable.\n