i_opioidsubstance_2017a_2017-10-31t13:14:09z3 Hearing Summary

Date: 10/31/2017

Location: RM 271

02:33 PM -- Bill 3 - Measures to Address Opioid Crisis in Colorado



Yelana Love, OLLS, presented Bill 3 (Attachment F) and amendments 7 and 8 (Attachment Z and AA). The bill enacts several changes regarding opioid use and public health and safety. First, concerning the use of syringes, the bill:



17Opioid1031AttachAA.pdf

• exempts supervised injection facilities from state laws regarding public nuisance;
  
• allows county and district public health agencies to create and operate clean syringe exchange programs without prior approval of the county or district board of health;
  
• allows clean syringe exchange programs to be operated in a hospital; and
  
• exempts individuals who provide clean syringes in accordance with a clean syringe exchange program from civil liability resulting from the syringe exchange.
  

Second, the bill allows schools and school districts to enact policies under which a school may obtain opiate antagonists for administering to persons overdosing on an opiate. A trained employee or agent of a school may administer the opiate antagonist in accordance with the school or school district policy. Third, the bill removes synthetic opiates from the list of schedule II drugs and creates new, unspecified drug felonies for the unlawful distribution, manufacturing, dispensing, or sale of synthetic opiates. The bill exempts labeling by a pharmacists from the definition of unlawful dispensing. Under current law, unlawful distribution, manufacturing, dispensing or sale of a schedule II drug may be a level 1, 2 or 3 drug felony, depending on the amount of the drug involved and whether or not it involves a minor. Unlawful possession of a schedule II drug is a level 4 drug felony.



02:39 PM -- Dr. Don Stader, Colorado Chapter - American College of Emergency Physicians, testified in support of the bill and supervised injection sites.



02:41 PM -- Dr. Robert Valuck, Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention, testified in support of supervised injection sites.

02:45 PM



Representative Pettersen assigned the following co-prime sponsors to the bill: Representatives Singer and Navarro, and Senators Lambert and Jahn. She announced that the bill will be introduced in the Senate first, and all other committee members, except Representative Buck, will be listed as co-sponsors. There was no objection to including a safety clause on the bill. There was no objection to giving the Office of Legislative Legal Services permission to make technical changes to the bill, if necessary.