04.06.2017

The Keep Antibiotics Effective Act (SB422/HB602) has gone into law without a signature from Governor Larry Hogan, making Maryland the second state in the country after California to meaningfully address the widespread misuse of antibiotics in livestock and poultry. The new law will prohibit the routine use of antibiotics on animals that are not sick.
Approximately 70% of human use antibiotics distributed in the U.S. are sold for use on food animals. 
The laws in Maryland and California go much further than federal Food and Drug Administration guidelines, which seek to prohibit the use of antibiotics for growth promotion in animals but do nothing to stop the routine use of antibiotics for disease prevention purposes. 
California in 2015 adopted tough rules for antibiotic use on farms. Its law, which takes effect on Jan. 1, also restricts the regular use of antibiotics for disease prevention and bans antibiotic use to fatten up animals.