Resources and Information for the Medical Marijuana Movement
This is the third installment of a documentary by Eric Katz examining the long debate about adopting an ordinance regulating medical cannabis in the City of Los Angeles in 2010. The footage includes elected officials, collective operators, voters, and patients.
Today’s Huffington Post article by Americans for Safe Access Executive Director Steph Sherer is a timely comment on where patient privacy fits in the debate about state regulations. We must be diligent to protect privacy until we succeed in harmonizing federal law with the compassionate use laws of all the states and the District of Columbia. Steph writes:
Just in case there was any question about the vulnerability of patient records, one need only look to the State of Michigan, where President Obama’s Justice Department has issued subpoenas for several registered medical marijuana patients. So far, the Michigan Department of Community Health has refused to turn over the records, but the Justice Department recently took the case into federal court. As recently as 2007, under President G.W. Bush, the Justice Department similarly subpoenaed the records of 17 registered patients in the Oregon. Although the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program successfully quashed the subpoenas, it’s unclear whether such resistance can be sustained across the country.
Medical cannabis professionals all over the country should take care to protect patients’ records. There are time-tested procedures and technology that can protect privacy. Locking file cabinets, privacy screens on computer monitors, careful paperwork supervision, encryption software, and more are at our disposal. It is just as important, however, that we protect patient privacy with our voices by speaking up in opposition to bad policies and federal intimidation. Thanks, Steph!
This is the second installment of a documentary by Eric Katz examining the long debate about adopting an ordinance regulating medical cannabis in the City of Los Angeles in 2010. The footage includes elected officials, collective operators, voters, and patients.
This is the first installment of a documentary by Eric Katz examining the long debate about adopting an ordinance regulating medical cannabis in the City of Los Angeles in 2010. The footage includes elected officials, collective operators, voters, and patients.
The Los Angeles City Council approved amendments to its Medical Cannabis Ordinance (MCO) on Friday, paving the way for full implementation of the controversial measure this summer. The City Council removed the two-year sunset clause and provided additional protection for patients’ medical records. The most significant changes, however, involve how the city will determine which patients’ associations are eligible to register. It seems no one is happy with the compromise designed to work around a Preliminary Injunction blocking enforcement of some provisions of the ordinance.
