BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1029|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1029
Author: Yee (D)
Amended: 4/7/10
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 6-3, 3/24/10
AYES: Alquist, Cedillo, Leno, Negrete McLeod, Pavley,
Romero
NOES: Strickland, Aanestad, Cox
SENATE BUS., PROF. & ECON. DEVEL. COMMITTEE : 5-1, 4/22/10
AYES: Negrete McLeod, Calderon, Florez, Oropeza, Yee
NOES: Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Aanestad, Correa, Walters
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Hypodermic needles and syringes
SOURCE : Drug Policy Alliance
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
DIGEST : This bill allows individuals to obtain up to 30
syringes or needles for personal use without a prescription
from a pharmacy, and authorizes pharmacists and physicians
to distribute up to 30 needles to an individual without a
prescription solely for personal use.
ANALYSIS :
CONTINUED
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Existing law:
1. Allows a pharmacist or physician to furnish hypodermic
needles or syringes for human use without a prescription
or permit if the person is known to the furnisher and
the furnisher has been previously provided with a
prescription or proof of legitimate medical need.
2. Allows counties to authorize pharmacists to furnish or
sell 10 or fewer hypodermic needles or syringes to
persons 18 years of age or older, for the period
commencing January 1, 2005 and ending December 31, 2010,
if the pharmacy is registered for the Disease Prevention
Demonstration Project (DPDP) and if the pharmacy
complies with other specified provisions.
3. Establishes the DPDP as a collaboration between
pharmacies and local and state health officials, for the
purpose of evaluating the long-term desirability of
allowing licensed pharmacists to furnish or sell
nonprescription hypodermic needles or syringes to
prevent the spread of blood-borne pathogens, including
HIV and hepatitis C.
4. As part of the DPDP, requires participating pharmacies
to register with their local health department, and
certify that they will provide written or verbal
information on drug treatment, testing services, and
safe sharps disposal practices at the point of sale.
5. As part of the DPDP, proscribes requirements for the
secure storage of needles and syringes in pharmacies,
and requires pharmacies to make safe disposal options
available to users.
6. As part of DPDP, requires the California Department of
Public Health (CDPH) to evaluate the effects of allowing
pharmacists to furnish or sell a limited number of
hypodermic needles or syringes without prescription, and
to provide a report to the Governor and the Legislature
on or before January 15, 2010.
7. Authorizes clean needle exchange programs in any city
and county, county, or city upon the action of a county
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board of supervisors and the local health officer or
health commission of that county; the city council, the
mayor, and the local health officer of a city with a
health department; or, the city council and the mayor of
a city without a health department.
8. Requires that no person shall possess a hypodermic
needle or syringe except when acquired in accordance
with specified provisions of law.
9. Stipulates that no public entity, its agents, or
employees will be subject to criminal prosecution for
the distribution of hypodermic needles or syringes to
participants in clean needle and syringe exchange
projects authorized by law.
This bill:
1. Declares legislative intent to improve access to
syringes and hypodermic needles for the purpose of
protecting public health, providing sterile injection
equipment and allowing for education to reduce the
spread of communicable diseases.
2. Deletes the December 31, 2010 sunset date for the DPDP
pilot program and authorizes its provisions in a
statewide program until December 31, 2018.
3. Allows a pharmacist or physician to furnish hypodermic
needles or syringes for human use without a prescription
or permit if the person is known to the furnisher and
the furnisher has been previously provided with a
prescription or proof of legitimate medical need.
4. Allows a pharmacist, veterinarian or person licensed by
the California State Board of Pharmacy (Board) to
furnish hypodermic needles or syringes for animal use
without a prescription or permit if the person is known
to the furnisher and able to properly establish his or
her identity.
5. Allows a physician or pharmacist anywhere in the state
the discretion to furnish 30 or fewer hypodermic needles
or syringes to adults 18 years of age or older without a
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prescription or permit solely for personal use.
Specifies that this provision is for the purpose of
preventing the transmission of HIV, viral hepatitis,
other blood-borne diseases and subsequent infection of
sexual partners, newborn children, or other persons.
6. Removes the requirement for local authorization through
a vote of a Board of Supervisors or City Council.
7. Allows individuals to possess 30 or fewer syringes
solely for personal use if acquired from a pharmacy,
physician or syringe exchange program.
8. Requires pharmacies to 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.
9. Requires all pharmacies that furnish nonprescription
syringes to provide for safe disposal of syringe and
sharps waste, by providing one or more of the following
options:
A. The pharmacy participates in a syringe take-back
program.
B. The pharmacy furnishes or makes available
mail-back containers approved by the US Postal
Service for the transportation and destruction of
sharps waste.
C. The pharmacy furnishes or makes available sharps
containers that meet applicable state or federal
standards for disposal of sharps waste.
10.Requires all pharmacies to furnish information to
purchasers of nonprescription syringes about accessing
drug treatment, accessing HIV and hepatitis screenings
and safe disposal of syringe and sharps waste.
11.Requires Office of AIDS to develop and maintain
information on its website about accessing drug
treatment, accessing HIV and hepatitis screenings and
safe disposal of syringe and sharps waste; requires the
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Board to either post or maintain a link to the same
information on its website.
Background
According to the CDPH/OA, injection drug use is the second
leading cause of HIV transmission and the leading cause of
hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in California. Sharing of
contaminated syringes and other injection equipment is
linked to 19 percent of all reported AIDS cases in the
state. The shared use of syringes and needles was
recognized as being associated with HIV transmission among
injection drug users at the onset of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Nationwide, injection drug use accounted for 17 percent of
new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in adults and adolescents in 2007,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). California data suggests that over 1,500 new
syringe-sharing HIV infections occur annually. The link
between injection drug use and HIV is particularly strong
for women and people of color. In California, 37 percent
of cumulative AIDS cases among women, 24.3 percent of cases
among African American men and women, and 22.4 percent of
cases among Latinas are directly attributable to syringe
sharing.
In addition, there are an estimated 500,000 to 600,000
Californians currently infected with hepatitis C virus
(HCV) with an estimated 5,000 new infections annually due
to injection drug use. Viral hepatitis is a major cause of
liver cancer and the leading cause of liver transplants
nationwide. In the United States, there are more than five
million people living with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV)
or chronic HCV. In 2007 alone, HBV and HCV-related
hospitalization costs in California totaled $2 billion.
Over the next 20 years, annual medical costs for people
with HCV nationwide are expected to increase more than 2.5
times, from $30 billion to more than $85 billion.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/11/10)
Drug Policy Alliance (co-source)
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San Francisco AIDS Foundation (co-source)
AIDS Project Los Angeles
American Civil Liberties Union
California Association of Alcohol and Drug Program
Executives, Inc.
California Communities United Institute
California Hepatitis Alliance
California Medical Association
California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing
Committee
California Opioid Maintenance Providers
California Pharmacists Association
California Psychiatric Association
California Retailers Association
California Society of Addiction Medicine
City and County of San Francisco
City of West Hollywood
County Alcohol & Drug Program Administrators Association of
California
County of Alameda
Equality California
Health Officers Association of California
Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project of Los Angeles County
Rite Aid
San Francisco Mayor's Hepatitis C Task Force
Walgreens
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/11/10)
California Narcotic Officers' Association
California Peace Officers' Association
California Police Chiefs' Association
League of California Cities
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Hepatitis Alliance
claim that syringe sharing among injection drug users who
are not allowed to buy syringes without a prescription, is
the number one cause of hepatitis C in the state, and the
second most common cause of new HIV and hepatitis B
infections. They contend that allowing adults to spend
their own money to access equipment that prevents the
spread of infectious diseases will save California
taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in healthcare
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costs. The California Medical Association concurs with the
claim that making syringes and needles available without a
prescription at licensed pharmacies will help prevent the
transmission of diseases among IDUs. The California
Retailers Association represents many chain drug stores
that chose to participate in the DPDP, and agrees with the
statewide expansion of pharmacy syringe and needle access
offered by this bill. The County Alcohol and Drug Program
Administrators Association of California claims this bill
is consistent with their commitment to the reduction of
individual and community problems related to chronic
disease of addiction.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California Narcotics
Association opposes the bill's removal of the local option
to approve or disapprove authorization for pharmacy syringe
sales. They believe this bill will force needle furnishing
programs on every community in California, irrespective of
the wishes of that community's elected officials.
CTW:JJA:do 5/11/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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