SB 997 - Under this act, any entity registered with the Department of Health and Senior Services that possesses, distributes, or delivers hypodermic needles or syringes for the purposes of operating a syringe exchange program or otherwise mitigating health risks associated with unsterile injection drug use shall be exempt from the offense of unlawful distribution, delivery, or sale of drug paraphernalia, if such entity is not located within 500 feet of a school building, as well as the offense of unlawful manufacturing with intent to deliver drug paraphernalia. This act is identical to SB 623 (2023) and provisions in CCS/HCS/SS/SB 690 (2022) and CCS#2/HCS/SS/SB 64 (2021), substantially similar to HB 1486 (2020), SB 668 (2020), HCS/SS/SB 580 (2020), and HCS/HB 168 (2019), and similar to SCS/HB 1620 (2019). SARAH HASKINS