BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 1029
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 4, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                     SB 1029 (Yee) - As Amended:  June 23, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                             Health Vote:12-6
                       Business & Professions                 6-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill authorizes pharmacists and physicians to distribute up  
          to 30 hypodermic needles and syringes to individuals for  
          personal use without a prescription until December 31, 2018.  
          This bill specifies the circumstances under which needles may be  
          distributed and requires the Office of AIDS within the  
          California Department of Public Health and the California Board  
          of Pharmacy to provide specified information on their websites. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Absorbable workload to the Department of Public Health Office of  
          AIDS and the California Board of Pharmacy to provide specified  
          information on their websites and to continue oversight of the  
          sale and disposal of needles and syringes. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . This bill is co-sponsored by the Drug Policy  
            Alliance and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation to increase the  
            availability of sterile needles and to reduce HIV infection  
            rates. 

           2)Background  . According to national data, more than one-third of  
            all reported AIDS cases have been diagnosed in intravenous  
            (IV) drug users, their partners, and their children. In  
            California, injection drug use is the second largest risk  
            factor for HIV infection, accounting for approximately 20% of  
            all reported HIV infections. The link between injection drug  
            use and HIV transmission is particularly strong for women and  
            people of color.  Public health experts have identified access  








                                                                  SB 1029
                                                                  Page  2

            to sterile syringes as a key component of a comprehensive HIV  
            prevention strategy. This bill expands a current law program  
            to increase the availability of clean needles. 

           3)Related Legislation  . SB 1159 (Vasconcellos), Chapter 608,  
            Statutes of 2004 established the Disease Prevention  
            Demonstration Project to evaluate the effectiveness of  
            allowing licensed pharmacists to furnish hypodermic needles or  
            syringes to reduce the transmission of blood-borne pathogens.  
            This bill expands on the framework established by SB 1159. 


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Mary Ader / APPR. / (916) 319-2081