Title 20, Public Health and Welfare

(1) As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Court” shall mean circuit court;(2) “Guardian” shall mean one appointed to have the care and custody of the person of an incompetent person; and(3) “Incompetent person” shall mean a person as to whom it is pr…

Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to limit or restrict the right of a competent adult to consent to a sterilization procedure on himself or herself or to render liable any licensed hospital or its governing body or members thereof, or its superintendent, admini…

(a) The circuit court shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all proceedings under this chapter, subject to the right of appeal. (b) The venue for all proceedings under this chapter shall be:(1) In the county of this state which is the domicile of the incompetent person; or(2) If…

(a) A guardian, in the case of an adult who is an alleged incompetent person, or a parent or guardian, in the case of a minor who is an alleged incompetent person, may petition the court for the sterilization, under this chapter, of an alleged incompetent. (b) The petition shall …

(a) Notice of the hearing for sterilization need not be given to any person:(1) Who has signed the petition;(2) Who has in writing waived notice of the hearing;(3) Who actually appears at the hearing; or(4) Whose existence, relationship to the alleged incompetent person, or where…

(a) (1) In determining the incompetence of a person for whom sterilization is sought, the court shall require that the evidence of incompetence include the testimony of at least two (2) medical witnesses who shall be found by the court to be qualified. The testimony of one (1) wi…

If the petition is granted, the court may order that the incompetent be sterilized by X-ray or by vasectomy, in the case of a male incompetent person, or salpingectomy, in the case of a female incompetent person, or other procedure as at the time may constitute a procedure genera…

An order for sterilization may be appealed from as in other cases at law or in equity, and no such order shall be executed during the time that an appeal may be taken or while an appeal is pending.

(a) No action shall be brought against any licensed hospital or its governing body, the members thereof, or its superintendent, administrator, agents, representatives, servants, or employees nor against any physician, nurse, or other person who participates in the performance of …

ARTICLE I The Interstate Compact on Mental Health is enacted into law and entered into by this state with all other states legally joining therein in the form substantially as follows:ARTICLE I The party states find that the proper and expeditious treatment of the mentally ill an…

(a) Under this compact, the Director of the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services, or his or her designee, shall be the compact administrator and, acting jointly with like officers of other party states, shall have power to p…

(a) The compact administrator is authorized and empowered to enter into supplementary agreements with appropriate officials of other states pursuant to Article VII and Article XI of the compact. (b) In the event that supplementary agreements shall require or contemplate the use o…

The compact administrator, subject to the approval of the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State, may make or arrange for any payments necessary to discharge any financial obligations imposed upon this state by the compact or by any supplementary agreement entered into thereunder.

The compact administrator is directed to consult with the immediate family of any proposed transferee and, in the case of a proposed transferee from an institution in this state to an institution in another party state, to take no final action without approval of the circuit cour…

Authorized copies of this chapter shall, upon its approval, be transmitted by the Secretary of State to the Governor of each state, the Attorney General, and the United States Secretary of State, and the Council of State Governments.

(a) As used in this section:(1) (A) “Over-the-counter diet pills” means a class of drugs that is labeled and marketed under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq., as existing on January 1, 2025, for the purpose of achieving weight loss that is lawfully…

This subchapter may be cited as the “Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act”.

(1) As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Abandoned drug” means a drug which:(A) Is in the possession or control of a person who is without authority under law to possess, purchase, or sell;(B) In its present circumstances presents a danger to the…

The provisions of this subchapter regarding the selling of food, drugs, devices, or cosmetics shall be considered to include the manufacture, production, processing, packing, exposure, offer, possession, and holding of any such article for sale and includes the sale, dispensing, …

Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed as requiring the State Board of Health to report for the institution of proceedings under this subchapter any minor violations of this subchapter whenever the board believes that the public interest will be adequately served under the…

(a) Any person who violates any of the provisions of this subchapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and for such offense shall, upon conviction, be fined an amount not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500), or shall be sentenced to not more than one (1) year's imprisonment, or …

It shall be the duty of each prosecuting attorney to whom the State Board of Health reports any violation of this subchapter to cause appropriate proceedings to be instituted in the proper courts without delay and to be prosecuted in the manner required by law.

In addition to the remedies provided in § 20-56-205, the State Board of Health is authorized to apply to the proper circuit court for, and the court shall have jurisdiction, upon hearing and for cause shown, to grant, a temporary or permanent injunction restraining any person fro…

(1) A food shall be deemed to be adulterated:(1) (A) If the food bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render the food injurious to health.(B) However, if the substance is not an added substance, the food shall not be considered adulterated under subd…

(1) A food shall be deemed to be misbranded:(1) If its labeling is false or misleading in any particular;(2) If it is offered for sale under the name of another food;(3) If it is an imitation of another food, unless its label bears, in type of uniform size and prominence, the wor…

(1) A drug or device shall be deemed to be adulterated:(1) (A) If it consists in whole or in part of any filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance;(B) If it has been produced, prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have been contaminated with filth or …

(1) A drug or device shall be deemed to be misbranded:(1) If its labeling is false or misleading in any particular;(2) If in package form unless it bears a label containing:(A) The name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor. However, in the case of any…

(1) A cosmetic shall be deemed to be adulterated:(1) If it bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render it injurious to users under the conditions of use prescribed in the labeling or advertisement thereof, or under such conditions of use as are custo…

(1) A cosmetic shall be deemed to be misbranded:(1) If its labeling is false or misleading in any particular;(2) If in package form unless it bears a label containing:(A) The name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor; and(B) An accurate statement of t…

(a) An advertisement of a food, drug, device, or cosmetic shall be deemed to be false if it is false or misleading in any particular. (b) (1) (A) For the purpose of this subchapter, the advertisement of a drug or device shall also be deemed to be false if the advertisement repres…

(1) The following acts and the causing thereof within the State of Arkansas are prohibited:(1) The manufacture or sale, delivery, holding, or offering for sale of any food, drug, device, or cosmetic that is adulterated, misbranded, or abandoned;(2) The adulteration, misbranding, …

(a) (1) Whenever an authorized agent of the State Board of Health finds or has probable cause to believe that any food, drug, device, or cosmetic is adulterated, so misbranded, or abandoned as to be dangerous or fraudulent within the meaning of this subchapter, he or she shall af…

(a) Whenever the State Board of Health finds after investigation that the distribution in Arkansas of any class of food may, by reason of contamination with microorganisms during manufacture, processing, or packing thereof in any locality, be injurious to health and that the inju…

(a) Any poisonous or deleterious substance added to any food, except where the substance is required in the production thereof or cannot be avoided by good manufacturing practice, shall be deemed to be unsafe for purposes of the application of § 20-56-208(2), but when the substan…

(a) (1) The authority to promulgate rules for the efficient enforcement of this subchapter is vested in the State Board of Health.(2) The board is authorized to make the rules promulgated under this subchapter conform, insofar as practicable, with those promulgated under the Fede…

(a) The State Board of Health or its authorized agent shall have free access at all reasonable hours to any factory, warehouse, or establishment in which foods, drugs, devices, or cosmetics are manufactured, processed, packed, or held for introduction into commerce or to enter an…

(a) The State Board of Health may cause reports to be published summarizing all judgments, decrees, and court orders which have been rendered under this subchapter, including the nature of the charge and the disposition thereof. (b) The board may also cause to be disseminated suc…

(a) The enforcement of the provisions of this subchapter and all acts ancillary to it shall be the duty of the Division of Environmental Health Protection of the Department of Health. (b) The State Board of Health is authorized to appoint the necessary personnel to properly admin…

The State Board of Health is authorized to confer and cooperate with the United States Food and Drug Administration in the enforcement of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as it may apply to food, liquor, drugs, and cosmetic products received in this state from other state…

(a) The General Assembly finds that certain chemicals used in hair relaxers are linked to harmful impacts on health, such as cancer, birth defects, damage to the reproductive system, organ system toxicity, and endocrine disruption. (b) As used in this section:(1) “Carcinogen” mea…

A dispensary shall not use a self-service machine such as a vending machine for the purchase and dispensing of medical marijuana.

An individual shall not use marijuana or be intoxicated by marijuana while at a dispensary or a cultivation facility.

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, a dispensary or a cultivation facility shall not allow access to the dispensary, cultivation facility, or the property of the dispensary or cultivation facility to individuals who:(1) Do not possess a current registry iden…

(a) As used in this section, “child-proof packaging” means packaging that cannot be opened by a child or that prevents ready access to a toxic or harmful amount of the product, and that meets the testing requirements in accordance with the method described in 16 C.F.R. § 1700.20,…

(a) (1) A cultivation facility shall not advertise through any public medium or means designed to market products to the public.(2) A cultivation facility may market products directly to a dispensary by any means directed solely to the dispensary and not available to the public. …

(a) As used in this section, “commercially available” means any candy, food, or beverage product that is produced or sold by a third party. (b) A cultivation facility, dispensary, or processor shall not process or manufacture a medical marijuana product in a non-childproof packag…