Florida Senate - 2013                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 808
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 428062                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/09/2013           .                                
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       The Committee on Health Policy (Braynon) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Subsection (4) is added to section 381.0038,
    6  Florida Statutes, to read:
    7         381.0038 Education; needle and syringe exchange pilot
    8  program.—The Department of Health shall establish a pilot
    9  program to educate the public about the threat of acquired
   10  immune deficiency syndrome.
   11         (4) The department shall establish a sterile needle and
   12  syringe exchange pilot program in Miami-Dade County. The pilot
   13  program shall be administered by the department or the
   14  department’s designee. The department is authorized to designate
   15  one of the following entities to operate the pilot program at a
   16  fixed location or through a mobile health unit: a hospital
   17  licensed under chapter 395, a health care clinic licensed under
   18  part X of chapter 400, a substance abuse treatment program, an
   19  HIV or AIDS service organization, or another nonprofit entity
   20  designated by the department. The pilot program shall offer the
   21  free exchange of clean unused needles and hypodermic syringes
   22  for used needles and hypodermic syringes as a means to prevent
   23  the transmission of HIV, AIDS, viral hepatitis, or other blood
   24  borne diseases among intravenous drug users and their sexual
   25  partners and offspring.
   26         (a) The pilot program shall:
   27         1. Provide for maximum security of exchange sites and
   28  equipment, including an accounting of the number of needles and
   29  syringes in use, the number of needles and syringes in storage,
   30  safe disposal of returned needles, and any other measure that
   31  may be required to control the use and dispersal of sterile
   32  needles and syringes.
   33         2. Strive for a one-to-one exchange, whereby the
   34  participant shall receive one sterile needle and syringe unit in
   35  exchange for each used one.
   36         3. Make available educational materials; HIV counseling and
   37  testing; referral services to provide education regarding HIV,
   38  AIDS, and viral hepatitis transmission; and drug use prevention
   39  and treatment.
   40         (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
   41  possession, distribution, or exchange of needles or syringes as
   42  part of a needle and syringe exchange pilot program established
   43  by the department or the department’s designee is not a
   44  violation of any part of chapter 893 or any other law.
   45         (c) A needle and syringe exchange pilot program staff
   46  member, volunteer, or participant is not immune from criminal
   47  prosecution for:
   48         1. The possession of needles or syringes that are not a
   49  part of the exchange pilot program; or
   50         2. Redistribution of needles or syringes in any form, if
   51  acting outside the pilot program.
   52         (d) The pilot program shall collect data for annual and
   53  final reporting purposes, which shall include information on the
   54  number of participants served, the number of needles and
   55  syringes exchanged and distributed, the demographic profiles of
   56  the participants served, the number of participants entering
   57  drug counseling and treatment, the number of participants
   58  receiving HIV, AIDS, or viral hepatitis testing, and other data
   59  deemed necessary for the pilot program. However, no personal
   60  identifying information may be collected from a participant for
   61  any purpose.
   62         (e) State funds may not be used to operate the pilot
   63  program. The pilot program shall be funded through grants and
   64  donations from private resources and funds.
   65         (f) The pilot program shall expire July 1, 2018. Six months
   66  before the pilot program expires, the Office of Program Policy
   67  Analysis and Government Accountability shall submit a report to
   68  the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
   69  Representatives that includes the data collection requirements
   70  established in this subsection; the rates of HIV, AIDS, viral
   71  hepatitis, or other blood-borne diseases before the pilot
   72  program began and every subsequent year thereafter; and a
   73  recommendation on whether to continue the pilot program.
   74         (g) The department has the authority to adopt and develop
   75  rules to implement the provisions of this subsection.
   76         Section 2. If any provision of this act or its application
   77  to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity
   78  does not affect other provisions or applications of the act that
   79  can be given effect without the invalid provision or
   80  application, and to this end the provisions of this act are
   81  severable.
   82         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.
   83  
   84  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   85         And the title is amended as follows:
   86         Delete everything before the enacting clause
   87  and insert:
   88                        A bill to be entitled                      
   89         An act relating to a needle and syringe exchange pilot
   90         program; amending s. 381.0038, F.S.; requiring the
   91         Department of Health to establish a needle and syringe
   92         exchange pilot program in Miami-Dade County; providing
   93         for administration of the pilot program by the
   94         department or a designee; establishing pilot program
   95         criteria; providing that the distribution of needles
   96         and syringes under the pilot program is not a
   97         violation of the Florida Comprehensive Drug Abuse
   98         Prevention and Control Act or any other law; providing
   99         conditions under which a pilot program staff member or
  100         participant may be prosecuted; prohibiting the
  101         collection of participant identifying information;
  102         providing for the pilot program to be funded through
  103         private grants and donations; providing for expiration
  104         of the pilot program; requiring a report to the
  105         Legislature; providing rulemaking authority; providing
  106         for severability; providing an effective date.