New Mexico Register / Volume XXXIII,
Issue 13 / July 12, 2022
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
The New Mexico Department of Health will
hold a public hearing on the proposed
repeal and replace of 7.4.6 NMAC,
“Requirements Governing the Harm Reduction/Syringe Exchange Program”. The public hearing will be held on August 17,
2022 at 9:00 a.m. via Microsoft Teams, via telephone,
and comments will be received via email through the conclusion of the hearing.
The hearing is being held via internet,
email, and telephonic means due to the concerns surrounding Coronavirus and in
consideration of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Executive Order 2020-004,
Declaration of a Public Health Emergency, and any subsequent executive orders. Members of the
public who wish to submit public comment regarding the proposed rule changes
will be able to do so via video conference and via telephone during
the course of the hearing, and by submitting written comment before the
conclusion of the hearing.
The hearing will be conducted to receive
public comments regarding the proposed repeal and replace of rule 7.4.6 NMAC,
concerning the implementation of the requirements and authority of the New
Mexico Harm reduction Act, Section 24-2C-1 to 24-2C-6 NMSA 1978
The legal authority authorizing the
proposed repeal and replacement of the rule by the Department is at Subsection
E of Section 9-7-6 NMSA 1978, The Harm Reduction Act, Section 24-2C-1 to
24-2C-5 NMSA 1978, the Public Health Act, Section 24-1-3 NMSA 1978, and Section
30-31-25.1 NMSA 1978 of the Controlled Substances Act.
Purpose of the proposed repeal and replace
are listed below:
7.4.6.1 - Issuing Agency:
·
To identify
the Department of Health, Public Health Division, Bureau of Infectious Diseases
as the division responsible for issuing and implementing these rules.
7.4.6.2 - Scope:
·
Included to
identify the community and population that will be affected by these
regulations.
7.4.6.3 - Statutory Authority:
·
Identifies
the statutory authority allowing the department of health to issue these rules.
7.4.6.4 - Duration
·
Identifies
these rules as permanent rules in effect until lawfully removed.
7.4.6.5 - Effective date
·
Provides for
when these rules will be in effect.
7.4.6.5 - Objective
·
Defines the
objective of the rules as implementing the requirements of the harm reduction
act and the purpose of the regulations.
7.4.6.7 - Definitions
·
Provides
necessary definitions for terms as they are applied throughout the rules.
7.4.6.8 - General Provisions Governing the
HRP Application Approval and Revocation Processes
·
Describes
the application process for becoming a harm reduction provider. It also
designates direct service providers for individuals who use substances as
automatic HRPs for the purposes of providing fentanyl test strips or other
testing devices. This is included so that organizations who provide front line
services on a daily basis who may not be a direct HRP
can still provide the lifesaving testing devices to their clients under the
protections of the harm reduction act.
7.4.6.9 - Harm Reduction Provider
Requirements
·
This
section states what is required to become a harm reduction provider and for
operations as a harm reduction provider.
7.4.6.10 - Supplies Provided
·
This
Section defines which supplies the department has designated as items that will
reduce negative health consequences associated with substance use, prevent
overdose mortality or encourage participant engagement
in other programming designed to improve overall community health.
·
Safer
smoking supplies including screens, pipe covers, wooden pushers, copper scrub
pads, aluminum foil and straws designed to inhale substances are designated as
items which can reduce negative health outcomes associated with substance use
and items which will improve participant engagement due to when these items are
shared or other less healthy options are used it can lead to the transmission
of blood borne pathogens, respiratory infection, and other soft tissue injuries
such as burns. Due to the changing nature of substance use, more individuals
are smoking and not engaged with harm reduction programs, this decreases
participant engagement in other program services such as overdose prevention
and navigation into substance use treatment. Evidence has also shown
individuals who are provided supplies for a safer method of consuming
substances than injection, individuals are willing to switch from injecting to
smoking.
·
Safer
snorting supplies including clean spoons for measurement, clean plastic razors,
and clean flat surfaces are designated as items which can reduce negative
health outcomes associated with substance use and items which will improve
participant engagement due to when these items are shared it can lead to the
transmission of hepatitis c or other upper respiratory illness. Snorting
substances is a significantly safer route of administration than injection and
research shows when provided with these items people
who inject substances are willing to switch to a safer route of consumption.
Providing these items will lead to increased engagement for people who inhale
substances, this will allow for additional health education messaging and
overdose prevention and naloxone distribution services.
·
Safer
injecting supplies including syringes and needles, metal containers for cooking
substances, cotton pellets or other filtration devices, twist ties,
tourniquets, sterile water and saline, ascorbic acid, and biohazard containers
for disposal of used syringes and needles are designated as items which reduce
cases of negative health outcomes of substance use, sterile items which can be
used to reduce harm associated with substance use, and items which can be used
to improve participant engagement due to the fact that injection of substances
is associated with the most serious negative health outcomes. Sharing of
syringes or any of the items used to inject can lead to the transmission of
blood borne pathogens such has hepatitis c and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV). Sharing of injection equipment or syringes is associated with higher
rates of serious soft tissue infection. It has also been shown that individuals
engaged in ham reduction and provided with these supplies are more likely to
receive and succeed in substance use treatment. Sharps containers will also be
provided to ensure individuals are disposing of used injection equipment in a
safe manner.
7.4.6.11 - Participant Enrollment
·
This
section defines the process for enrolling participants in HRP programs and how
participant cards will be issued and maintained.
7.4.6.12 - Harm Reduction Program
Participant Requirements
·
This section
designates the requirements for the participants of the harm reduction program.
Any interested member of the
public may attend the hearing and submit data, views, or arguments either
orally or in writing on the proposed rule amendments during the hearing. To access the hearing by
telephone: please call 1-505-312-4308 and enter meeting ID 185 897 54#. Your telephone comments will be
recorded. To access the hearing via
internet: please send an email to Joshua.swatek@state.nm.us to be sent an invitation
link by no later than 5pm MDT August 15th 2022;
You may also provide comment via Chat during the live streaming.
Written public
comment regarding the proposed rule amendments can be submitted by either
mailing the comment to the following address:
Sheila Apodaca
Office of General Counsel
New Mexico Department of Health
1190 St. Francis Drive, Suite N-4095
Santa Fe, NM 87505
(505) 827-2997
Or preferably
by e-mailing the comment to the e-mail address: Sheila.Apodaca@state.nm.us.
Written comments must be
received by the close of the public rule hearing on August 17, 2022. All written comments will be published on the
agency website at http://nmhealth.org/about/asd/cmo/rules/ within three (3)
days of receipt and will be available at the New Mexico Department of Health
Public Health Division for public inspection.
If you are an individual with a disability
who is in need of special assistance or accommodations
to attend or participate in the hearing, please contact Sheila Apodaca by
telephone at (505) 827-2997. The
Department requests at least ten (10) days advance notice to provide requested
special accommodations.
The foregoing are summaries
of the proposed rule. The proposed rule
includes various additional substantive revisions not identified here. Free copies of the full text of the proposed
rule may be obtained online from the
Department’s website at https://nmhealth.org/publication/regulation/