STAND. COM. REP. NO. 381

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 302

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committees on Health and Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 302 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DRUG OVERDOSE PREVENTION,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Create immunity for individuals who prescribe, possess, or administer an opioid antagonist such as naloxone hydrochloride during an opioid-related drug overdose;

 

     (2)  Authorize emergency personnel to administer opioid antagonist;

 

     (3)  Require Medicaid coverage for naloxone hydrochloride;

 

     (4)  Exempt pharmacists and pharmacies from licensure and permitting requirements, except for drug storage requirements, for storing and distributing opioid antagonists; and

 

     (5)  Make an appropriation for drug overdose recognition, prevention, and response, including the distribution and administration of naloxone hydrochloride.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition, Hawaii Community Pharmacists Association, Walgreen Co., Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, Hawaii Medical Association, The CHOW Project, Drug Policy Action Group, and ten individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services, Department of Health, and Hawaii Association for Justice.

 

     Your Committees find that Good Samaritan policies, also known as medical amnesty, are life-saving measures that are in the best interest of the public's health, safety, and welfare.  These policies facilitate responsible decision-making by shielding individuals from punishment when they seek medical attention during an emergency involving alcohol and controlled substances.

 

     Your Committees further find that if criminal punishment is intended to deter drug abuse, it clearly is too late to deter abuse when a person is already suffering from an overdose.  Good Samaritan policies should not be perceived as a "get out of jail free card" or a reward for illegal drug use.  Rather, they enable individuals to make potentially life-saving decisions promptly and without hesitation.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Judiciary and Labor that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 302, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 302, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Judiciary and Labor,

 

________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair

 

____________________________

JOSH GREEN, Chair