2009 California Health and Safety Code - Section 121285 :: Chapter 13.5. Disease Prevention Demonstration Project

121285.  (a) The Disease Prevention Demonstration Project, a
collaboration between pharmacies and local and state health
officials, is hereby authorized 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.
   (b) The State Department of Health Services shall evaluate the
effects of allowing pharmacists to furnish or sell a limited number
of hypodermic needles or syringes without prescription, and provide a
report to the Governor and the Legislature on or before January 15,
2010. The State Department of Health Services is encouraged to seek
funding from private and federal sources to pay for the evaluation.
The report shall include, but need not be limited to, the effect of
nonprescription hypodermic needle or syringe sale on all of the
following:
   (1) Hypodermic needle or syringe sharing practice among those who
inject illegal drugs.
   (2) Rates of disease infection caused by hypodermic needle or
syringe sharing.
   (3) Needlestick injuries to law enforcement officers and waste
management employees.
   (4) Drug crime or other crime in the vicinity of pharmacies.
   (5) Safe or unsafe discard of used hypodermic needles or syringes.
   (6) Rates of injection of illegal drugs.
   (c) The State Department of Health Services shall convene an
uncompensated evaluation advisory panel comprised of all of the
following: two or more specialists in the control of infectious
diseases; one or more representatives of the California State Board
of Pharmacy; one or more representatives of independent pharmacies;
one or more representatives of chain pharmacy owners; one or more
representatives of law enforcement executives, such as police chiefs
and sheriffs; one or more representatives of rank and file law
enforcement officers; a specialist in hazardous waste management from
the State Department of Health Services; one or more representatives
of the waste management industry; and one or more representatives of
local health officers.
   (d) In order to furnish or sell nonprescription hypodermic needles
or syringes as part of the Disease Prevention Demonstration Project
in a county or city that has provided authorization pursuant to
Section 4145 of the Business and Professions Code, a pharmacy shall
do all of the following:
   (1) Register with the local health department by providing a
contact name and related information, and certify that it will
provide, at the time of furnishing or sale of hypodermic needles or
syringes, written information or verbal counseling on all of the
following:
   (A) How to access drug treatment.
   (B) How to access testing and treatment for HIV and hepatitis C.
   (C) How to safely dispose of sharps waste.
   (2) Store hypodermic needles and syringes so that they are
available only to authorized personnel, and not openly available to
customers.
   (3) In order to provide for the safe disposal of hypodermic
needles and syringes, a registered pharmacy shall provide one or more
of the following options:
   (A) An onsite safe hypodermic needle and syringe collection and
disposal program.
   (B) Furnish or make available for purchase mail-back sharps
disposal containers authorized by the United States Postal Service
that meet applicable state and federal requirements, and provide
tracking forms to verify destruction at a certified disposal
facility.
   (C) Furnish or make available for purchase personal sharps
disposal containers that meet state and federal standards for
disposal of medical waste.
   (e) Local health departments shall be responsible for all of the
following:
   (1) Maintaining a list of all pharmacies within the local health
department's jurisdiction that have registered under the Disease
Prevention Demonstration Project.
   (2) Making available to pharmacies written information that may be
provided or reproduced to be provided in writing or orally by the
pharmacy at the time of furnishing or the sale of nonprescription
hypodermic needles or syringes, including all of the following:
   (A) How to access drug treatment.
   (B) How to access testing and treatment for HIV and hepatitis C.
   (C) How to safely dispose of sharps waste.
   (f) As used in this chapter, "sharps waste" means hypodermic
needles, syringes, and lancets.