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Senate committee advances bill limiting outdoor syringe exchanges and creating new drug-court tools
Summary
A multi-part bill that restricts some outdoor needle-exchange activity on government property, creates stay-out-of-drug-area orders, authorizes justice-court 'step courts,' and funds jail-based recovery pods was narrowly tailored by sponsors and advanced by the Senate committee after sharply divided testimony from harm-reduction providers and law-enforcement backers.
Salt Lake City — The Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday favorably recommended House Bill 205, a substitute that combines restrictions on some needle-exchange activity with new judicial and programmatic tools aimed at reducing open-air drug markets.
Representative Ray Clancy, the sponsor, told committee members the bill clarifies what syringe-exchange programs may do on public property, creates a civil "stay out of drug area" (SOTA) order judges can use to keep known distributors away from identified hotspots, authorizes justice-court "step courts" modeled on swift, certain and fair programs, and authorizes voluntary jail recovery pods. "We're trying to make sure we're all rowing in the same direction," Clancy said.
The bill would prohibit exchanges from operating on parks and other government-owned public spaces without the consent of the relevant government entity; it also clarifies that syringe-exchange operations do not include distribution…
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