Section 121349.1.

(a) A city, county, or a city and county, with or without a health department, that acts to authorize a clean needle and syringe exchange project pursuant to this chapter shall, in consultation with the State Department of Public Health, authorize the exchange of clean hypodermic needles and syringes, as recommended by the United States Public Health Service, subject to the availability of funding, as part of a network of comprehensive services, including treatment services, to combat the spread of HIV and bloodborne hepatitis infection among injection drug users. Providers participating in an exchange project authorized by the county, city, or city and county pursuant to this chapter shall not be subject to criminal prosecution for possession of needles or syringes during participation in an exchange project.

(b) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2019.

(Repealed (in Sec. 2) and added by Stats. 2011, Ch. 744, Sec. 2.5. Effective January 1, 2012. Section operative January 1, 2019, by its own provisions.)