Bill Text: HI SB957 | 2025 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating To Overdose Prevention.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-04 - The committee(s) on HHS has scheduled a public hearing on 02-10-25 1:20PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference. [SB957 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2025-SB957-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	957
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to overdose prevention.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that drug overdose deaths are increasing in Hawaii, despite being preventable.  According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System, five hundred sixty-two people died of unintentional drug overdoses between mid-2020 and late 2022 in Hawaii.  In 2023, there were three hundred sixty-four fatal drug overdoses in the State, of which forty per cent were due to opioids.

     The legislature further finds that overdose prevention centers are places where people can safely use drugs and receive harm reduction services and authorized objects.  These centers have operated in Europe, Canada, and Australia for over twenty years, with no overdose deaths being reported in the centers.  According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, overdose prevention centers are associated with significant reductions in many negative outcomes related to drug use, including public drug use, sharing of drug paraphernalia, soft tissue injuries, ambulance calls, emergency department visits, and crime.

     The legislature additionally finds that overdose prevention centers have recently been authorized in Michigan, Rhode Island, and Vermont and in New York City.

     Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:

     (1)  Establish criteria for the designation of overdose prevention centers to prevent drug overdose and death, prevent transmission of bloodborne pathogens, reduce public drug use, and link persons who use drugs with health and social services; and

     (2)  Provide immunity from state criminal prosecution for persons using a designated overdose prevention center and persons operating a designated overdose prevention center.

     SECTION 2.  The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"Chapter

overdose prevention centers

     §   -1  Definitions.  As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

     "Authorized objects" means objects authorized by the department, by rule, for dissemination to participants for the purpose of reducing infection or injury including but not limited to sterile injection equipment and supplies.

     "Department" means the department of health.

     "Director" means the director of health.

     "Drugs" shall have the same meaning as "dangerous drugs" as defined in section 711-1240.

     "Harm reduction services" means providing authorized objects, support, and education including but not limited to the provision of sterile equipment for the preparation and consumption of drugs; distribution of opioid antagonist medication; first aid to monitor and treat potential overdoses; education on safer consumption practices; secure disposal of used syringes and other equipment that have been used for the consumption of drugs; overdose prevention; use of opioid antagonist medication; infection prevention; testing for and treatment of infections; referrals to treatment for substance use disorders; and services that are provided to prevent harms associated with the use of drugs, specifically fatal overdose, transmission of bloodborne pathogens, and soft tissue injuries.

     "Overdose prevention center" or "center" means a facility where persons who use drugs may consume pre-obtained drugs and receive harm reduction services from health care professionals and other staff persons pursuant to this chapter.

     "Participant" means a person who enters an overdose prevention center to use drugs and receive harm reduction services and authorized objects pursuant to this chapter.

     "Playground" means any public outdoor facility, including any parking lot appurtenant thereto, that is intended for recreation, with any portion thereof containing one or more separate apparatus intended for the recreation of children, including but not limited to sliding boards, swing sets, and teeterboards.

     "Pre-obtained drugs" means drugs that a participant obtained prior to entry into an overdose prevention center.

     "School" means any public or private preschool, kindergarten, elementary, intermediate, middle, secondary, or high school.

     "Staff person" means an employee of the department or center who is specifically tasked with procuring, handling, transporting, or providing authorized objects and harm reduction services to participants.

     §   -2  Overdose prevention centers; designation.  (a)  The director may designate one or more facilities as overdose prevention centers.

     (b)  The director shall establish standards, pursuant to rules adopted by chapter 91, for the designation of an overdose prevention center that shall include, at a minimum:

     (1)  Eligibility requirements to operate as a designated overdose prevention center;

     (2)  Records management;

     (3)  Participant eligibility;

     (4)  Provision of harm reduction services to participants including but not limited to:

          (A)  Education and training on overdose prevention and response; proper disposal of used hypodermic needles, syringes, and other potentially infectious waste; and the risks of contracting bloodborne infections through unsafe injection or other drug use practices;

          (B)  Wound care;

          (C)  Referrals to appropriate health and social services, including but not limited to substance use disorder treatment, mental health services, infectious disease testing, and other health care;

          (D)  Authorized objects and other supplies intended to reduce overdose, death, bloodborne pathogen transmission, soft-tissue injury, and other morbidities related to the use of drugs;

          (E)  Collection of used hypodermic needles and syringes with secure hypodermic needs and syringe disposal or destruction; and

          (F)  Methods or services to test participant's drugs to identify the presence of potentially dangerous drugs other than those of which the participant is aware;

     (5)  Personal selection and oversight including but not limited to:

          (A)  Number and type of personnel needed, including qualifications and training;

          (B)  Standards and criminal background checks to ensure the reputable and responsible character and fitness of all staff; and

          (C)  Record keeping of staff who have access to the overdose prevention center's records and to needles, syringes, and other harm reduction supplies;

     (6)  Safety and security measures, including but not limited to:

          (A)  Continuous video monitoring and recording of the premises;

          (B)  An alarm system;

          (C)  Exterior lighting;

          (D)  Enforcement of prohibitions against the sale or distribution of illicit drugs in or immediately adjacent to the centers; and

          (E)  Security requirements and restrictions regarding waiting rooms; and

     (7)  Signage, including a prohibition on any image of a cartoon character or other design likely to appeal to children.

     (c)  The director shall determine a schedule for overdose prevention centers to report to the department certain data and provide proof of compliance with the standards developed under subsection (b).

     §   -3  Overdose prevention centers; location.  Designated overdose prevention centers shall comply with all county zoning ordinances, rule, or regulations; provided that no center shall be permitted within seven hundred fifty feet of the real property comprising a playground or school.

     §   ‑4  Exception from criminal liability.  (a)  Possession of pre-obtained drugs by participants at an overdose prevention center shall not constitute an offense under section 712-1234.

     (b)  Possession of authorized objects by participants at a designated center shall not constitute an offense under section 329-43.5.  Possession or delivery of authorized objects by staff acting in the course and scope of their official duties shall not constitute an offense under section 329-43.5.

     (c)  Possession or delivery of used needles or syringes containing residual drugs shall not constitute an offense under section 329-43.5, 712-1242(1)(c), or 712-1243 if done by participants or staff acting in the course and scope of their official duties; provided that any delivery of used needles or syringes containing residual drugs, whether by participants or staff, shall be made only to staff.

     (d)  Subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall apply only to acts occurring inside or while entering or existing a designated overdose prevention center.

     (e)  The mere fact that a property owner, lessor, or sublessor of the property on which an overdose prevention center or an entity operating an overdose prevention center allowed or facilitated the activities under subsections (a), (b), or (c) to occur on their property shall not constitute a criminal offense under state law.

     (f)  The mere fact that an individual enters, exits, or uses the services of a designated overdose prevention center shall not constitute a criminal offense under state law.

     (g)  Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to provide immunity from criminal prosecution for any activities that are not conducted, permitted, and explicitly approved pursuant to this chapter.

     §   -5  Oversight committee.  (a)  The director shall appoint an overdose prevention center oversight committee to provide assistance and advice in the oversight of designated prevention centers and that shall periodically meet with the director or the director's designee to examine available data and monitor effectiveness of the overdose prevention centers.

     (b)  The committee may recommend procedures for announced and unannounced inspections by the department, the committee, or the department's or committee's designees, pursuant to this chapter.

     §   -6  Reports.  Each overdose prevention center shall, on or before January 31 of each year, submit a report to the overdose prevention center oversight committee that shall include but not be limited to:

     (1)  The number of participants accessing overdose prevention centers;

     (2)  Demographic information on participants, excluding protected health information;

     (3)  The number of overdoses and the number of overdoses reversed on site;

     (4)  The number of times emergency medical services were contracted and responded for assistance;

     (5)  The number of deaths of participants, if any, including any deaths that occurred enroute to medical facilities;

     (6)  The number of times law enforcement was contacted and responded to requests for assistance; and

     (7)  The number of participants referred to other services and the types of services to which they were referred.

     §   -7  Overdose prevention centers; termination.  The director shall withdraw designation and cease operations of any overdose prevention center if the center:

     (1)  Fails to meet the meet the standards established pursuant to section    -2;

     (2)  Fails to serve its intended purpose;

     (3)  Present an unacceptable risk to public health and public safety; or

     (4)  Is no longer necessary.

     §   ‑8  Rulemaking.  The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 necessary for the purposes of this chapter.  The rules shall establish procedures for notice and an opportunity for a hearing prior to the withdrawal of a designation of a facility as an overdose prevention center pursuant to section    -7."

     SECTION 3.  Section 329-43.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:

     "(d)  [It] Except for the purposes of advertising the services of an overdose prevention center established pursuant to chapter    , it is unlawful for any person to place in any newspaper, magazine, handbill, or other publication any advertisement, knowing or under circumstances where one reasonably should know, that the purpose of the advertisement, in whole or in part, is to promote the sale of objects designed or intended for use as drug paraphernalia.  Any person who violates this section is guilty of a class C felony and upon conviction may be imprisoned pursuant to section 706-660 and, if appropriate as provided in section 706-641, fined pursuant to section 706-640.

     (e)  Subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply to a person who is authorized to:

     (1)  Acquire, possess, cultivate, use, distribute, or transport cannabis pursuant to the definition of "medical use" under section 329-121, while the person is facilitating the medical use of cannabis by a qualifying patient; [or]

     (2)  Dispense, manufacture, or produce cannabis or manufactured cannabis products pursuant to and in compliance with chapter 329D, while the person is facilitating the medical use of cannabis by a qualifying patient pursuant to part IX of chapter 329[.]; or

     (3)  Acquire, possess, or dispense authorized objects to participants at an overdose prevention center pursuant to chapter    .

     For the purposes of this section, "authorized objects" shall have the same meaning as in section    -1. "

     SECTION 4.  Section 712-1240.1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§712-1240.1  Defense to promoting.  (1)  It is a defense to prosecution for any offense defined in this part that the person who possessed or distributed the dangerous, harmful, or detrimental drug did so under authority of law as a practitioner, as an ultimate user of the drug pursuant to a lawful prescription, or as a person otherwise authorized by law.

     (2)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution for any marijuana-related offense defined in this part that the person who possessed or distributed the marijuana was authorized to possess or distribute the marijuana for medical purposes pursuant to part IX of chapter 329.

     (3)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution for the offense of promoting a dangerous drug in the second degree that the person who possessed or distributed the dangerous drug did so as incidental to the possession, delivery, or disposal of used needles or syringes containing residue of the dangerous drug while either inside of or entering or exiting an overdose prevention clinic as either an employee or participant of the overdose prevention clinic pursuant to chapter    .

     (4)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution for the offense of promoting a dangerous drug in the third degree that the person who possessed the dangerous drug, including any used needles or syringes containing residue of the dangerous drug, did so while either inside of or entering or exiting an overdose prevention clinic as either an employee or participant of the overdose prevention clinic pursuant to chapter    ."

     SECTION 5.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

     SECTION 6.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 7.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

DOH; Overdose Prevention Centers; Establishment; Overdose Prevention Center Oversight Committee; Criminal Liability; Exemptions

 

Description:

Establishes and provides criteria for overdose prevention centers, including standards for the Department of Health to designate certain facilities as overdose prevention centers.  Establishes an Overdose Prevention Center Oversight Committee. Provides immunity from state criminal prosecution for certain offenses for persons using a designated overdose prevention center and persons operating a designated overdose prevention center.

 

 

 

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