Pubdate: Thu, 06 Sep 2007
Source: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Copyright: 2007 The Oregonian
Contact:  http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/324
Author: Anne Saker, The Oregonian
Cited: Oregon Medical Marijuana Program http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/ommp/
Cited: The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation http://www.thc-foundation.org
Cited: ACLU Drug Law Reform Project http://www.aclu.org/drugpolicy/index.html
Cited: Oregon NORML http://www.ornorml.org
Cited: Hempstalk http://hempstalk.org
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

RULING PROTECTS POT PATIENTS PRIVACY

A Federal Judge Denies a Grand Jury Access to Oregon Medical 
Marijuana Treatment Records

A federal judge has thrown out sweeping subpoenas for patient records 
kept by Oregon's medical marijuana program and a private clinic, 
saying privacy concerns overruled a grand jury's demand for information.

Chief U.S. District Judge Robert H. Whaley in Yakima ruled on the 
subpoenas four months after a grand jury in that city issued them. 
The grand jury wanted to know about 17 patients who got medical 
marijuana from a grower with operations in Oregon and Washington.

Advocates for medical marijuana have said the subpoenas marked a new 
tactic in federal efforts to stop state-run programs such as 
Oregon's. In California, federal drug agents have closed medical 
marijuana dispensaries and prosecuted doctors who prescribed 
marijuana to patients.

The state of Oregon and the private Hemp and Cannabis Foundation went 
to court this summer to stop the subpoenas, and Whaley convened a 
hearing Aug. 1.

In his eight-page decision issued Tuesday, Whaley wrote that grand 
juries have wide latitude to conduct investigations and can issue 
subpoenas for almost any kind of information. The subpoenas cannot be 
quashed unless the person or organization fighting the subpoena can 
show the demand is unreasonable, the judge said.

Whaley found that the subpoenas against Oregon's program and the 
foundation were unreasonable.

"There is an obvious tension between the state's authorization of the 
production and use of marijuana as a medicine and the federal 
authority to make such activity a crime," Whaley wrote. "The point at 
which that tension should be broken by the compelled production of 
records to a federal grand jury has not been reached with these subpoenas."

Oregon voters enacted the state's medical marijuana program in 1998, 
and 14,868 state residents hold patient cards. Another 7,115 people 
hold licenses to grow medical marijuana; they cannot sell marijuana 
but can accept donations to defray expenses.

The state law governing the program expressly states that medical 
records will be kept confidential.

The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation is a Portland organization with 
clinics in Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Hawaii where doctors can 
examine patients and determine whether marijuana would be useful as medicine.

Whaley tossed out the subpoena to the foundation because its medical 
records "represent implementation of the state's program and are 
integral to the success of the program."

D. Paul Stanford, the foundation's founder and chief executive 
officer, said Wednesday the ruling will "protect medical marijuana 
patients' records and confidentiality. There are limits to the 
government's power to intimidate doctors and patients, and 
fortunately, the federal courts have delineated those limits."

Adam Wolf, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union's Drug Law 
Reform Project who argued on behalf of the foundation, said the ACLU 
believes the case is important. "This should reassure physicians and 
patients that they are safe," Wolf said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney James Hagerty in Yakima, who is presenting 
the evidence to the grand jury, was on vacation and not available to 
comment. When contacted last month about the subpoenas, Hagerty 
refused to discuss the investigation.

But Stanford said the grand jury is looking at one man who ran a 
Goldendale, Wash., grow site for Oregon patients and an Estacada site 
for Washington patients. Stanford said that activity was not allowed 
under either state's medical marijuana program.

Madeline Martinez, executive director of the Oregon branch of the 
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, was jubilant 
over the ruling.

"I'm celebrating! Power to the people!" she said. "We were really 
afraid that this big, broad arm of the government was trying to 
overreach. We're patients. We're not criminals. We're just thrilled 
to pieces about this."

The ruling comes just before Oregon NORML, the Hemp and Cannabis 
Foundation and other groups convene the third annual Hempstalk 
festival this weekend at Sellwood-Riverside Park. The city of 
Portland had turned down the group's application for a permit for the 
event but relented after the ACLU stepped in. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake