Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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San Antonio Express-News (12.10.08) - Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Don Finley
The state Senate easily passed an NEP bill last session, but it was later blocked in the House by Rep. Dianne Delisi (R- Temple), who chaired the Public Health Committee. She has since resigned her seat. A different eleventh-hour NEP bill was later attached to Medicaid legislation, but that bill authorized a pilot NEP only in Bexar County.
In addition, the later bill lacked the original measure's language protecting county workers from prosecution under state drug laws, according to a subsequent legal opinion by the attorney general. Bexar County then had to place its NEP on hold.
Sen. Robert Deuell (R-Greenville) and San Antonio Democrats Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon and Sen. Leticia Van de Putte again plan to introduce NEP bills as they did in the last session. The legislation would authorize local health departments to operate NEPs.
"I think there's a good chance that this will succeed," said William Martin, senior fellow for drug policy at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. Martin has studied NEPs and testified in favor of them during the last two legislative sessions.
Using the example of a food bank, Charlene Doria-Ortiz, community health coordinator for Bexar County, introduced the concept of a "safety pantry, where you could perhaps get a free child-safety seat for your kid, you could get a free smoke detector for your house, [and] you could get free needles, free sharps containers." The Bexar Area Harm Reduction Coalition organized the meeting.
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