Over on TalkLeft, Jeralyn writes:
One step forward, two steps back. Colorado’s proposed regulations on medical marijuana are 90 pages long. You can read them here.
As part of her discussion, she quotes (via Westword) the Cannabis Therapy Institute:
The Colorado constitution sets up a confidential registry run by the state health department,” she continues, “and the only reason law enforcement ever gets to question the registry is if they stop somebody or detain them — and then they can call the registry and ask if this person is on the registry. That’s as far as it’s supposed to go.
But they’re talking about replacing that with this monstrous database that’s shared by the Department of Revenue, the department of health and law enforcement that’s going to confirm not just that a person is a patient, but what medicine they bought, when they bought it and where they bought it.
And there’ll be a 24-7 video surveillance system of dispensaries and grow operations. Wherever medical marijuana is processed, cultivated or sold is going to be under surveillance accessible to law enforcement on demand. It’s going to be the most scrutinized substance on the planet.”
…not only is this an issue of violating the confidentiality requirement in the Colorado constitution, but it’s a question of medical-records privacy, which is a broader issue than just for medical marijuana patients. It’s giving law enforcement access to medical information on an unprecedented scale.
Read more on TalkLeft.
Hat-tip, @PrivacyMemes.