Sex offenders in California will no longer be able to get state-funded anti-impotence drugs under a bill passed by the legislature on Monday.

The issue came to light nationwide in May after an audit showed New York State gave Viagra to nearly 200 sex offenders in recent years. California subsequently found it had distributed the drug to 137 offenders between April 2004 and May 2005 under its Medi-Cal system, said Ken August, a spokesman for California Health Services.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger followed a May U.S. federal warning against distributions and told his state agencies to cut off drugs such as Levitra, Cialis or Pfizer’s Viagra in such cases until related legislation was passed.

“Giving Viagra to a convicted sex offender is like giving a gun to a bank robber - it’s irresponsible and puts innocent people in danger,” said Republican Assemblyman George Plescia who sponsored the law. “Today we took an important step to protect innocent families and taxpayers.”

Eli Lilly & Co. and Icos Corp. sell Cialis. Levitra is sold by Bayer AG and GlaxoSmithKline Plc. Schering-Plough Corp. took over U.S. marketing rights for Levitra from Bayer last year.