BILL NUMBER: AB 1743 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 7, 2014
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 14, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 27, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ting
(Coauthor: Senator Monning)
FEBRUARY 14, 2014
An act to amend Sections 4144.5, 4145.5, and 4148.5 of, and to
repeal Sections 4144, 4145, 4148, and 4149.5 of, the Business and
Professions Code, and to amend Section 11364 of, and to repeal
Section 11364.1 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to public
health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1743, Ting. Hypodermic needles and syringes.
Existing law, until January 1, 2015, authorizes a pharmacist or
physician to furnish 30 or fewer hypodermic needles and syringes for
human use to a person 18 years of age or older solely for his or her
personal use.
This bill would delete that January 1, 2015, date of repeal and
would, until January 1, 2021, authorize a pharmacist or physician to
provide an unlimited number of hypodermic needles and syringes to a
person 18 years of age or older solely for his or her personal use.
Under existing law it is unlawful to possess an opium pipe or any
device, contrivance, instrument, or paraphanelia used for unlawfully
injecting or smoking specified controlled substances. Existing law,
until January 1, 2015, exempts from this prohibition the possession
of 30 or fewer hypodermic needles and syringes if acquired from an
authorized source, and from January 1, 2015, through December 31,
2018, inclusive, exempts from this prohibition possession solely for
personal use of 10 or fewer hypodermic needles or syringes if
acquired from an authorized source.
This bill would, instead, and until January 1, 2021, exempt the
possession of any amount of hypodermic needles and syringes that are
acquired from an authorized source.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4144 of the Business and Professions Code is
repealed.
SEC. 2. Section 4144.5 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
4144.5. A person may sell or obtain hypodermic needles and
hypodermic syringes without a prescription or permit, for uses that
the board determines are industrial, and that person shall not be
required to comply with Section 4145.5 or 4146.
SEC. 3. Section 4145 of the Business and Professions Code is
repealed.
SEC. 4. Section 4145.5 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
4145.5. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a
pharmacist or physician may, without a prescription or a permit,
furnish hypodermic needles and syringes for human use, and a person
may, without a prescription or license, obtain hypodermic needles and
syringes from a pharmacist or physician for human use, if the person
is known to the furnisher and the furnisher has previously been
provided a prescription or other proof of a legitimate medical need
requiring a hypodermic needle or syringe to administer a medicine or
treatment.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and until January
1, 2021, as a public health measure intended to prevent the
transmission of HIV, viral hepatitis, and other bloodborne diseases
among persons who use syringes and hypodermic needles, and to prevent
subsequent infection of sexual partners, newborn children, or other
persons, a physician or pharmacist may, without a prescription or a
permit, furnish hypodermic needles and syringes for human use to a
person 18 years of age or older, and a person 18 years of age or
older may, without a prescription or license, obtain hypodermic
needles and syringes solely for personal use from a physician or
pharmacist.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a pharmacist,
veterinarian, or person licensed pursuant to Section 4141 may,
without a prescription or license, furnish hypodermic needles and
syringes for use on animals, and a person may, without a prescription
or license, obtain hypodermic needles and syringes from a
pharmacist, veterinarian, or person licensed pursuant to Section 4141
for use on animals, providing that no needle or syringe shall be
furnished to a person who is unknown to the furnisher and unable to
properly establish his or her identity.
(d) A pharmacy that furnishes nonprescription hypodermic needles
and syringes shall store hypodermic needles and syringes in a manner
that ensures that they are available only to authorized personnel,
and are not accessible to other persons.
(e) In order to provide for the safe disposal of hypodermic
needles and syringes, a pharmacy or hypodermic needle and syringe
exchange program that furnishes nonprescription hypodermic needles
and syringes shall counsel consumers on safe disposal and provide
consumers with one or more of the following disposal options:
(1) It shall establish an onsite, safe, hypodermic needle and
syringe collection and disposal program that meets applicable state
and federal standards for collection and disposal of medical sharps
waste.
(2) It shall furnish, or make available, mail-back sharps
containers authorized by the United States Postal Service that meet
applicable state and federal requirements for the transport of
medical sharps waste, and shall provide tracking forms to verify
destruction at a certified disposal facility.
(3) It shall furnish, or make available, a sharps container that
meets applicable state and federal standards for collection and
disposal of medical sharps waste.
(f) Until January 1, 2021, a pharmacy that furnishes
nonprescription syringes shall provide written information or verbal
counseling to consumers at the time of furnishing or sale of
nonprescription hypodermic needles or syringes on how to do the
following:
(1) Access drug treatment.
(2) Access testing and treatment for HIV and hepatitis C.
(3) Safely dispose of sharps waste.
SEC. 5. Section 4148 of the Business and Professions Code is
repealed.
SEC. 6. Section 4148.5 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
4148.5. All stocks of hypodermic needles or syringes shall be
confiscated if found outside the licensed premises of any person
holding a permit under Section 4141 and found not in the possession
or under the control of a person entitled to an exemption under
Section 4143, 4144.5, or 4145.5, or under Section 11364, 121349, or
121349.1 of the Health and Safety Code.
SEC. 7. Section 4149.5 of the Business and Professions Code is
repealed.
SEC. 8. Section 11364 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
11364. (a) It is unlawful to possess an opium pipe or any device,
contrivance, instrument, or paraphernalia used for unlawfully
injecting or smoking (1) a controlled substance specified in
subdivision (b), (c), or (e) or paragraph (1) of subdivision (f) of
Section 11054, specified in paragraph (14), (15), or (20) of
subdivision (d) of Section 11054, specified in subdivision (b) or (c)
of Section 11055, or specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (d)
of Section 11055, or (2) a controlled substance that is a narcotic
drug classified in Schedule III, IV, or V.
(b) This section shall not apply to hypodermic needles or syringes
that have been containerized for safe disposal in a container that
meets state and federal standards for disposal of sharps waste.
(c) Until January 1, 2021, as a public health measure intended to
prevent the transmission of HIV, viral hepatitis, and other
bloodborne diseases among persons who use syringes and hypodermic
needles, and to prevent subsequent infection of sexual partners,
newborn children, or other persons, this section shall not apply to
the possession solely for personal use of hypodermic needles or
syringes if acquired from a physician, pharmacist, hypodermic needle
and syringe exchange program, or any other source that is authorized
by law to provide sterile syringes or hypodermic needles without a
prescription.
SEC. 9. Section 11364.1 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.