An Act Regarding Patient Information Under the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Act

CONCEPT DRAFT SUMMARY

This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208.

This bill proposes to amend the registration process for patients under the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Act by:

1. Requiring medical providers to send only the date of birth of a qualifying patient and the zip code of that patient's residence to the Department of Health and Human Services;

2. Requiring the department to assign a unique identifying number for that qualifying patient and notify the medical provider of that number; and

3. Requiring the medical provider to issue the qualifying patient a card with the qualifying patient's unique identifying number.

A qualifying patient is required to provide the card to a registered dispensary or primary caregiver in order to obtain prepared marijuana.

This bill also proposes to require registered dispensaries and primary caregivers to submit monthly reports to the department showing transfers of prepared marijuana to qualifying patients, using only the unique identifying number assigned by the department to identify the qualifying patient. Other information about the qualifying patient is only released in compliance with the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended.