Florida Senate - 2019                                     SB 366
       
       
        
       By Senator Braynon
       
       
       
       
       
       35-00882-19                                            2019366__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to infectious disease elimination
    3         programs; providing a short title; amending s.
    4         381.0038, F.S.; authorizing certain eligible entities
    5         to establish sterile needle and syringe exchange
    6         programs, rather than a single program established in
    7         Miami-Dade County; requiring an eligible entity to
    8         notify the Department of Health of specified
    9         information; revising program requirements; exempting
   10         certain persons affiliated with a program from
   11         prosecution for possession of a needle or syringe
   12         under certain circumstances; authorizing a county to
   13         prohibit a program within its boundaries; providing
   14         immunity from civil liability for certain law
   15         enforcement officers; providing severability;
   16         providing an effective date.
   17          
   18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   19  
   20         Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Infectious Disease
   21  Elimination Act (IDEA).”
   22         Section 2. Subsection (4) of section 381.0038, Florida
   23  Statutes, is amended to read:
   24         381.0038 Education; sterile needle and syringe exchange
   25  pilot program.—The Department of Health shall establish a
   26  program to educate the public about the threat of acquired
   27  immune deficiency syndrome.
   28         (4) An eligible entity The University of Miami and its
   29  affiliates may establish and operate a single sterile needle and
   30  syringe exchange pilot program in Miami-Dade County. An eligible
   31  entity shall notify the department when it establishes such a
   32  program and provide the eligible entity’s name; the program’s
   33  name and address; and the name, address, and telephone number of
   34  a contact person. The pilot program may operate at a fixed
   35  location or through a mobile health unit. The pilot program
   36  shall offer the free exchange of clean, unused needles and
   37  hypodermic syringes for used needles and hypodermic syringes as
   38  a means to prevent the transmission of HIV, AIDS, viral
   39  hepatitis, or other blood-borne diseases among intravenous drug
   40  users and their sexual partners and offspring. For purposes of
   41  this subsection, an eligible entity includes a hospital licensed
   42  under chapter 395, a health care clinic licensed under part X of
   43  chapter 400, an accredited medical school, a substance abuse
   44  treatment program, or an HIV or AIDS service organization.
   45         (a) The pilot program must:
   46         1. Provide for maximum security of exchange sites and
   47  equipment, including an accounting of the number of needles and
   48  syringes in use, the number of needles and syringes in storage,
   49  safe disposal of returned needles, and any other measure that
   50  may be required to control the use and dispersal of sterile
   51  needles and syringes.
   52         2. Provide needle and syringe exchange services for all
   53  program participants Operate a one-to-one exchange, whereby the
   54  participant shall receive one sterile needle and syringe unit in
   55  exchange for each used one.
   56         3. Make available educational materials and referrals to
   57  education regarding the transmission of HIV, viral hepatitis,
   58  and other blood-borne diseases; provide referrals for drug abuse
   59  prevention and treatment; and provide or refer for HIV and viral
   60  hepatitis screening.
   61         4.Make available kits containing an emergency opioid
   62  antagonist, as defined in s. 381.887, or provide a referral to a
   63  program that can make available such kits.
   64         (b)1. The possession, distribution, or exchange of needles
   65  or syringes as part of a the pilot program established under
   66  this subsection is not a violation of any part of chapter 893 or
   67  any other law.
   68         2.Notwithstanding chapter 893 or any other law, a program
   69  staff member, volunteer, or participant is immune from criminal
   70  prosecution for possession of a needle or syringe obtained from
   71  or surrendered to the program.
   72         (c) A pilot program staff member, volunteer, or participant
   73  is not immune from criminal prosecution for:
   74         1. The possession of needles or syringes that are not a
   75  part of the pilot program; or
   76         2. The redistribution of needles or syringes in any form,
   77  if acting outside the pilot program.
   78         (d) Each The pilot program must collect data for quarterly,
   79  annual, and final reporting purposes. An The annual report must
   80  include information on the number of participants served, the
   81  number of needles and syringes exchanged and distributed, the
   82  demographic profiles of the participants served, the number of
   83  participants entering drug counseling and treatment; the number
   84  of participants receiving testing for HIV, AIDS, viral
   85  hepatitis, or other blood-borne diseases; and other data
   86  necessary for the pilot program. However, personal identifying
   87  information may not be collected from a participant for any
   88  purpose. Each program must submit Quarterly reports must be
   89  submitted to the department of Health in Miami-Dade County by
   90  October 15, January 15, April 15, and July 15 of each year. an
   91  annual report must be submitted to the department of Health by
   92  August 1 every year which describes until the program expires. A
   93  final report is due on August 1, 2021, to the department of
   94  Health and must describe the performance and outcomes of the
   95  pilot program and include a summary of the information in the
   96  annual reports for all pilot program years.
   97         (e) State, county, or municipal funds may not be used to
   98  operate a the pilot program. A The pilot program may shall be
   99  funded through grants and donations from private resources and
  100  funds or through county or municipal funding.
  101         (f)A county may, by ordinance, prohibit a sterile needle
  102  and syringe exchange program from being located within the
  103  boundaries of that county.
  104         (g)A law enforcement officer acting in good faith who
  105  arrests or charges a person who is thereafter determined to be
  106  immune from prosecution under this section shall be immune from
  107  civil liability that might otherwise be incurred or imposed by
  108  reason of the officer’s actions.
  109         (f)The pilot program shall expire July 1, 2021.
  110         Section 3. If any provision of this act or its application
  111  to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity
  112  does not affect other provisions or applications of the act
  113  which can be given effect without the invalid provision or
  114  application, and to this end the provisions of this act are
  115  severable.
  116         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.