Public Act 101-0356
 
SB1828 EnrolledLRB101 10357 CPF 55463 b

    AN ACT concerning health.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Overdose Prevention and Harm Reduction Act.
 
    Section 5. Needle and hypodermic syringe access program.
    (a) Any governmental or nongovernmental organization,
including a local health department, community-based
organization, or a person or entity, that promotes
scientifically proven ways of mitigating health risks
associated with drug use and other high-risk behaviors may
establish and operate a needle and hypodermic syringe access
program. The objective of the program shall be accomplishing
all of the following:
        (1) reducing the spread of HIV, AIDS, viral hepatitis,
    and other bloodborne diseases;
        (2) reducing the potential for needle stick injuries
    from discarded contaminated equipment; and
        (3) facilitating connections or linkages to
    evidence-based treatment.
    (b) Programs established under this Act shall provide all
of the following:
        (1) Disposal of used needles and hypodermic syringes.
        (2) Needles, hypodermic syringes, and other safer drug
    consumption supplies, at no cost and in quantities
    sufficient to ensure that needles, hypodermic syringes, or
    other supplies are not shared or reused.
        (3) Educational materials or training on:
            (A) overdose prevention and intervention; and
            (B) the prevention of HIV, AIDS, viral hepatitis,
        and other common bloodborne diseases resulting from
        shared drug consumption equipment and supplies.
        (4) Access to opioid antagonists approved for the
    reversal of an opioid overdose, or referrals to programs
    that provide access to opioid antagonists approved for the
    reversal of an opioid overdose.
        (5) Linkages to needed services, including mental
    health treatment, housing programs, substance use disorder
    treatment, and other relevant community services.
        (6) Individual consultations from a trained employee
    tailored to individual needs.
        (7) If feasible, a hygienic, separate space for
    individuals who need to administer a prescribed injectable
    medication that can also be used as a quiet space to gather
    composure in the event of an adverse on-site incident, such
    as a nonfatal overdose.
        (8) If feasible, access to on-site drug adulterant
    testing supplies such as reagents, test strips, or
    quantification instruments that provide critical real-time
    information on the composition of substances obtained for
    consumption.
    (c) Notwithstanding any provision of the Illinois
Controlled Substances Act, the Drug Paraphernalia Control Act,
or any other law, no employee or volunteer of or participant in
a program established under this Act shall be charged with or
prosecuted for possession of any of the following:
        (1) Needles, hypodermic syringes, or other drug
    consumption paraphernalia obtained from or returned,
    directly or indirectly, to a program established under this
    Act.
        (2) Residual amounts of a controlled substance
    contained in used needles, used hypodermic syringes, or
    other used drug consumption paraphernalia obtained from or
    returned, directly or indirectly, to a program established
    under this Act.
        (3) Drug adulterant testing supplies such as reagents,
    test strips, or quantification instruments obtained from
    or returned, directly or indirectly, to a program
    established under this Act.
        (4) Any residual amounts of controlled substances used
    in the course of testing the controlled substance to
    determine the chemical composition and potential threat of
    the substances obtained for consumption that are obtained
    from or returned, directly or indirectly, to a program
    established under this Act.
    In addition to any other applicable immunity or limitation
on civil liability, a law enforcement officer who, acting on
good faith, arrests or charges a person who is thereafter
determined to be entitled to immunity from prosecution under
this subsection (c) shall not be subject to civil liability for
the arrest or filing of charges.
    (d) Prior to the commencing of operations of a program
established under this Act, the governmental or
nongovernmental organization shall submit to the Illinois
Department of Public Health all of the following information:
        (1) the name of the organization, agency, group,
    person, or entity operating the program;
        (2) the areas and populations to be served by the
    program; and
        (3) the methods by which the program will meet the
    requirements of subsection (b) of this Section.
    The Department of Public Health may adopt rules to
implement this subsection.
 
    Section 100. The Substance Use Disorder Act is amended by
changing Section 5-23 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 301/5-23)
    Sec. 5-23. Drug Overdose Prevention Program.
    (a) Reports of drug overdose.
        (1) The Department may publish annually a report on
    drug overdose trends statewide that reviews State death
    rates from available data to ascertain changes in the
    causes or rates of fatal and nonfatal drug overdose. The
    report shall also provide information on interventions
    that would be effective in reducing the rate of fatal or
    nonfatal drug overdose and on the current substance use
    disorder treatment capacity within the State. The report
    shall include an analysis of drug overdose information
    reported to the Department of Public Health pursuant to
    subsection (e) of Section 3-3013 of the Counties Code,
    Section 6.14g of the Hospital Licensing Act, and subsection
    (j) of Section 22-30 of the School Code.
        (2) The report may include:
            (A) Trends in drug overdose death rates.
            (B) Trends in emergency room utilization related
        to drug overdose and the cost impact of emergency room
        utilization.
            (C) Trends in utilization of pre-hospital and
        emergency services and the cost impact of emergency
        services utilization.
            (D) Suggested improvements in data collection.
            (E) A description of other interventions effective
        in reducing the rate of fatal or nonfatal drug
        overdose.
            (F) A description of efforts undertaken to educate
        the public about unused medication and about how to
        properly dispose of unused medication, including the
        number of registered collection receptacles in this
        State, mail-back programs, and drug take-back events.
            (G) An inventory of the State's substance use
        disorder treatment capacity, including, but not
        limited to:
                (i) The number and type of licensed treatment
            programs in each geographic area of the State.
                (ii) The availability of medication-assisted
            treatment at each licensed program and which types
            of medication-assisted treatment are available.
                (iii) The number of recovery homes that accept
            individuals using medication-assisted treatment in
            their recovery.
                (iv) The number of medical professionals
            currently authorized to prescribe buprenorphine
            and the number of individuals who fill
            prescriptions for that medication at retail
            pharmacies as prescribed.
                (v) Any partnerships between programs licensed
            by the Department and other providers of
            medication-assisted treatment.
                (vi) Any challenges in providing
            medication-assisted treatment reported by programs
            licensed by the Department and any potential
            solutions.
    (b) Programs; drug overdose prevention.
        (1) The Department may establish a program to provide
    for the production and publication, in electronic and other
    formats, of drug overdose prevention, recognition, and
    response literature. The Department may develop and
    disseminate curricula for use by professionals,
    organizations, individuals, or committees interested in
    the prevention of fatal and nonfatal drug overdose,
    including, but not limited to, drug users, jail and prison
    personnel, jail and prison inmates, drug treatment
    professionals, emergency medical personnel, hospital
    staff, families and associates of drug users, peace
    officers, firefighters, public safety officers, needle
    exchange program staff, and other persons. In addition to
    information regarding drug overdose prevention,
    recognition, and response, literature produced by the
    Department shall stress that drug use remains illegal and
    highly dangerous and that complete abstinence from illegal
    drug use is the healthiest choice. The literature shall
    provide information and resources for substance use
    disorder treatment.
        The Department may establish or authorize programs for
    prescribing, dispensing, or distributing opioid
    antagonists for the treatment of drug overdose. Such
    programs may include the prescribing of opioid antagonists
    for the treatment of drug overdose to a person who is not
    at risk of opioid overdose but who, in the judgment of the
    health care professional, may be in a position to assist
    another individual during an opioid-related drug overdose
    and who has received basic instruction on how to administer
    an opioid antagonist.
        (2) The Department may provide advice to State and
    local officials on the growing drug overdose crisis,
    including the prevalence of drug overdose incidents,
    programs promoting the disposal of unused prescription
    drugs, trends in drug overdose incidents, and solutions to
    the drug overdose crisis.
        (3) The Department may support drug overdose
    prevention, recognition, and response projects by
    facilitating the acquisition of opioid antagonist
    medication approved for opioid overdose reversal,
    facilitating the acquisition of opioid antagonist
    medication approved for opioid overdose reversal,
    providing trainings in overdose prevention best practices,
    connecting programs to medical resources, establishing a
    statewide standing order for the acquisition of needed
    medication, establishing learning collaboratives between
    localities and programs, and assisting programs in
    navigating any regulatory requirements for establishing or
    expanding such programs.
        (4) In supporting best practices in drug overdose
    prevention programming, the Department may promote the
    following programmatic elements:
            (A) Training individuals who currently use drugs
        in the administration of opioid antagonists approved
        for the reversal of an opioid overdose.
            (B) Directly distributing opioid antagonists
        approved for the reversal of an opioid overdose rather
        than providing prescriptions to be filled at a
        pharmacy.
            (C) Conducting street and community outreach to
        work directly with individuals who are using drugs.
            (D) Employing community health workers or peer
        recovery specialists who are familiar with the
        communities served and can provide culturally
        competent services.
            (E) Collaborating with other community-based
        organizations, substance use disorder treatment
        centers, or other health care providers engaged in
        treating individuals who are using drugs.
            (F) Providing linkages for individuals to obtain
        evidence-based substance use disorder treatment.
            (G) Engaging individuals exiting jails or prisons
        who are at a high risk of overdose.
            (H) Providing education and training to
        community-based organizations who work directly with
        individuals who are using drugs and those individuals'
        families and communities.
            (I) Providing education and training on drug
        overdose prevention and response to emergency
        personnel and law enforcement.
            (J) Informing communities of the important role
        emergency personnel play in responding to accidental
        overdose.
            (K) Producing and distributing targeted mass media
        materials on drug overdose prevention and response,
        the potential dangers of leaving unused prescription
        drugs in the home, and the proper methods for disposing
        of unused prescription drugs.
    (c) Grants.
        (1) The Department may award grants, in accordance with
    this subsection, to create or support local drug overdose
    prevention, recognition, and response projects. Local
    health departments, correctional institutions, hospitals,
    universities, community-based organizations, and
    faith-based organizations may apply to the Department for a
    grant under this subsection at the time and in the manner
    the Department prescribes.
        (2) In awarding grants, the Department shall consider
    the necessity for overdose prevention projects in various
    settings and shall encourage all grant applicants to
    develop interventions that will be effective and viable in
    their local areas.
        (3) (Blank). The Department shall give preference for
    grants to proposals that, in addition to providing
    life-saving interventions and responses, provide
    information to drug users on how to access substance use
    disorder treatment or other strategies for abstaining from
    illegal drugs. The Department shall give preference to
    proposals that include one or more of the following
    elements:
            (A) Policies and projects to encourage persons,
        including drug users, to call 911 when they witness a
        potentially fatal drug overdose.
            (B) Drug overdose prevention, recognition, and
        response education projects in drug treatment centers,
        outreach programs, and other organizations that work
        with, or have access to, drug users and their families
        and communities.
            (C) Drug overdose recognition and response
        training, including rescue breathing, in drug
        treatment centers and for other organizations that
        work with, or have access to, drug users and their
        families and communities.
            (D) The production and distribution of targeted or
        mass media materials on drug overdose prevention and
        response, the potential dangers of keeping unused
        prescription drugs in the home, and methods to properly
        dispose of unused prescription drugs.
            (E) Prescription and distribution of opioid
        antagonists.
            (F) The institution of education and training
        projects on drug overdose response and treatment for
        emergency services and law enforcement personnel.
            (G) A system of parent, family, and survivor
        education and mutual support groups.
        (4) In addition to moneys appropriated by the General
    Assembly, the Department may seek grants from private
    foundations, the federal government, and other sources to
    fund the grants under this Section and to fund an
    evaluation of the programs supported by the grants.
    (d) Health care professional prescription of opioid
antagonists.
        (1) A health care professional who, acting in good
    faith, directly or by standing order, prescribes or
    dispenses an opioid antagonist to: (a) a patient who, in
    the judgment of the health care professional, is capable of
    administering the drug in an emergency, or (b) a person who
    is not at risk of opioid overdose but who, in the judgment
    of the health care professional, may be in a position to
    assist another individual during an opioid-related drug
    overdose and who has received basic instruction on how to
    administer an opioid antagonist shall not, as a result of
    his or her acts or omissions, be subject to: (i) any
    disciplinary or other adverse action under the Medical
    Practice Act of 1987, the Physician Assistant Practice Act
    of 1987, the Nurse Practice Act, the Pharmacy Practice Act,
    or any other professional licensing statute or (ii) any
    criminal liability, except for willful and wanton
    misconduct.
        (2) A person who is not otherwise licensed to
    administer an opioid antagonist may in an emergency
    administer without fee an opioid antagonist if the person
    has received the patient information specified in
    paragraph (4) of this subsection and believes in good faith
    that another person is experiencing a drug overdose. The
    person shall not, as a result of his or her acts or
    omissions, be (i) liable for any violation of the Medical
    Practice Act of 1987, the Physician Assistant Practice Act
    of 1987, the Nurse Practice Act, the Pharmacy Practice Act,
    or any other professional licensing statute, or (ii)
    subject to any criminal prosecution or civil liability,
    except for willful and wanton misconduct.
        (3) A health care professional prescribing an opioid
    antagonist to a patient shall ensure that the patient
    receives the patient information specified in paragraph
    (4) of this subsection. Patient information may be provided
    by the health care professional or a community-based
    organization, substance use disorder program, or other
    organization with which the health care professional
    establishes a written agreement that includes a
    description of how the organization will provide patient
    information, how employees or volunteers providing
    information will be trained, and standards for documenting
    the provision of patient information to patients.
    Provision of patient information shall be documented in the
    patient's medical record or through similar means as
    determined by agreement between the health care
    professional and the organization. The Department, in
    consultation with statewide organizations representing
    physicians, pharmacists, advanced practice registered
    nurses, physician assistants, substance use disorder
    programs, and other interested groups, shall develop and
    disseminate to health care professionals, community-based
    organizations, substance use disorder programs, and other
    organizations training materials in video, electronic, or
    other formats to facilitate the provision of such patient
    information.
        (4) For the purposes of this subsection:
        "Opioid antagonist" means a drug that binds to opioid
    receptors and blocks or inhibits the effect of opioids
    acting on those receptors, including, but not limited to,
    naloxone hydrochloride or any other similarly acting drug
    approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
        "Health care professional" means a physician licensed
    to practice medicine in all its branches, a licensed
    physician assistant with prescriptive authority, a
    licensed advanced practice registered nurse with
    prescriptive authority, an advanced practice registered
    nurse or physician assistant who practices in a hospital,
    hospital affiliate, or ambulatory surgical treatment
    center and possesses appropriate clinical privileges in
    accordance with the Nurse Practice Act, or a pharmacist
    licensed to practice pharmacy under the Pharmacy Practice
    Act.
        "Patient" includes a person who is not at risk of
    opioid overdose but who, in the judgment of the physician,
    advanced practice registered nurse, or physician
    assistant, may be in a position to assist another
    individual during an overdose and who has received patient
    information as required in paragraph (2) of this subsection
    on the indications for and administration of an opioid
    antagonist.
        "Patient information" includes information provided to
    the patient on drug overdose prevention and recognition;
    how to perform rescue breathing and resuscitation; opioid
    antagonist dosage and administration; the importance of
    calling 911; care for the overdose victim after
    administration of the overdose antagonist; and other
    issues as necessary.
    (e) Drug overdose response policy.
        (1) Every State and local government agency that
    employs a law enforcement officer or fireman as those terms
    are defined in the Line of Duty Compensation Act must
    possess opioid antagonists and must establish a policy to
    control the acquisition, storage, transportation, and
    administration of such opioid antagonists and to provide
    training in the administration of opioid antagonists. A
    State or local government agency that employs a fireman as
    defined in the Line of Duty Compensation Act but does not
    respond to emergency medical calls or provide medical
    services shall be exempt from this subsection.
        (2) Every publicly or privately owned ambulance,
    special emergency medical services vehicle, non-transport
    vehicle, or ambulance assist vehicle, as described in the
    Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act, that
    responds to requests for emergency services or transports
    patients between hospitals in emergency situations must
    possess opioid antagonists.
        (3) Entities that are required under paragraphs (1) and
    (2) to possess opioid antagonists may also apply to the
    Department for a grant to fund the acquisition of opioid
    antagonists and training programs on the administration of
    opioid antagonists.
(Source: P.A. 99-173, eff. 7-29-15; 99-480, eff. 9-9-15;
99-581, eff. 1-1-17; 99-642, eff. 7-28-16; 100-201, eff.
8-18-17; 100-513, eff. 1-1-18; 100-759, eff. 1-1-19.)
 
    Section 200. The Hypodermic Syringes and Needles Act is
amended by changing Sections 1 and 2 as follows:
 
    (720 ILCS 635/1)  (from Ch. 38, par. 22-50)
    Sec. 1. Possession of hypodermic syringes and needles.
    (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), no person, not
being a physician, dentist, chiropodist or veterinarian
licensed under the laws of this State or of the state where he
resides, or a registered professional nurse, or a registered
embalmer, manufacturer or dealer in embalming supplies,
wholesale druggist, manufacturing pharmacist, registered
pharmacist, manufacturer of surgical instruments, industrial
user, official of any government having possession of the
articles hereinafter mentioned by reason of his or her official
duties, nurse or a medical laboratory technician acting under
the direction of a physician or dentist, employee of an
incorporated hospital acting under the direction of its
superintendent or officer in immediate charge, or a carrier or
messenger engaged in the transportation of the articles, or the
holder of a permit issued under Section 5 of this Act, or a
farmer engaged in the use of the instruments on livestock, or a
person engaged in chemical, clinical, pharmaceutical or other
scientific research, or a staff person, volunteer, or
participant in a needle or hypodermic syringe access program,
shall have in his or her possession a hypodermic syringe,
hypodermic needle, or any instrument adapted for the use of
controlled substances or cannabis by subcutaneous injection.
    (b) A person who is at least 18 years of age may purchase
from a pharmacy and have in his or her possession up to 100
hypodermic syringes or needles.
(Source: P.A. 100-326, eff. 1-1-18.)
 
    (720 ILCS 635/2)  (from Ch. 38, par. 22-51)
    Sec. 2. Sale of hypodermic syringes and needles.
    (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), no syringe,
needle or instrument shall be delivered or sold to, or
exchanged with, any person except a registered pharmacist,
physician, dentist, veterinarian, registered embalmer,
manufacturer or dealer in embalming supplies, wholesale
druggist, manufacturing pharmacist, industrial user, a nurse
upon the written order of a physician or dentist, the holder of
a permit issued under Section 5 of this Act, a registered
chiropodist, or an employee of an incorporated hospital upon
the written order of its superintendent or officer in immediate
charge; provided that the provisions of this Act shall not
prohibit the sale, possession or use of hypodermic syringes or
hypodermic needles for treatment of livestock or poultry by the
owner or keeper thereof or a person engaged in chemical,
clinical, pharmaceutical or other scientific research, or a
staff person, volunteer, or participant in a needle or
hypodermic syringe access program.
    (b) A pharmacist may sell up to 100 sterile hypodermic
syringes or needles to a person who is at least 18 years of
age. A syringe or needle sold under this subsection (b) must be
stored at a pharmacy and in a manner that limits access to the
syringes or needles to pharmacists employed at the pharmacy and
any persons designated by the pharmacists. A syringe or needle
sold at a pharmacy under this subsection (b) may be sold only
from the pharmacy department of the pharmacy.
(Source: P.A. 100-326, eff. 1-1-18.)
 
    Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.