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.