Seattle police seize marijuana patient files

Seattle police seized files on nearly 600 medical marijuana patients when officers searched the headquarters of a patient support group, activists said Wednesday.

The search occurred Tuesday after a nearby police bicycle officer reported the smell of marijuana. Martin Martinez, who runs the Lifevine cooperative as well as Cascadia NORML, the local chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said no one was arrested but officers seized about 12 ounces of marijuana in addition to the patient files and a computer.

There were no marijuana plants growing there, Martinez said. He is a longtime advocate of legalizing the medical use of marijuana, following a severe motorcycle crash that left him with nerve damage in 1986. Three other patients authorized to use pot under Washington's medical marijuana law were also present when officers arrived at the office, which does not dispense marijuana, he said.

Cascadia NORML has been issuing identity cards to medical marijuana patients, but before doing so, it requires the patients to provide their medical authorizations for verification. That's why the patient files were in the office, Martinez said. The cards are not issued pursuant to the state's medical marijuana law, but are designed to help identify the patient as legitimate if confronted by police.

Some of the nearly 600 patients are now dead, and some others are no longer actively using marijuana, he said.

The police "have a heck of a lot of patient records I don't think they should have," said Douglas Hiatt, a Seattle attorney who specializes in medical marijuana cases. "For one thing, those records are protected under federal privacy laws. If you're a medical marijuana patient, you don't want the police to know who you are or where you live, and this is why - because you don't get treated very well."

Hiatt and Martinez said that before the search they tried to convince the officers as well as a deputy King County prosecutor there were no violations of the medical marijuana law.

The police department did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment Wednesday.

Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for the King County prosecutor's Office, confirmed that officers consulted a deputy prosecutor before searching the office Tuesday, but he said police have not referred the case to his office.

Under Washington's medical marijuana law, doctors can authorize patients to have as much as a 60-day supply of marijuana to treat symptoms of AIDS, cancer and other debilitating or chronic conditions. The law doesn't define what a 60-day supply is, but the state Health Department proposed this month that it be defined as 24 ounces of usable pot, along with six mature plants and 18 immature plants. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

According to Hiatt, the seized documents included patient authorizations, full medical histories, and the names of doctors who authorized the marijuana use.

Alison Chinn Holcomb, who follows marijuana issues for the Washington state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said there doesn't appear to be any evidence that the group was providing or growing marijuana, and no information that has been revealed thus far would seem to justify seizing the patient files.

"These are very sick people with very serious conditions, and we're sure none of them want the nature of those conditions made available to the public or to anyone who doesn't have a valid need for it," she said.
Local News | Seattle police seize marijuana patient files | Seattle Times Newspaper

UNREAL!!:mad:

Have a good one!:jointsmile:

p4b I am back online!! yea!! always look forward too your updates ty!
looks like that police department is going to be sued!!!! full medical histories!! woopsy

dang das crazy!

Doesn't sound like he was doing anything illegal but I think the people who were using his service wasn't very smart. All he does is make MMJ cards that got there authorization from a doctor. He does not need all the medical info, It sounds like both the police and this guy should be sued.
This is why there should not be any state registry for MMJ patients and the only one that has your medical records is your doctor.

Police officers returned a laptop and patient records they seized from a University District medical marijuana cooperative, but for now they're holding on to 12 ounces of marijuana and several bongs confiscated during their Tuesday evening search.

Martin Martinez, who heads the Life Vine cooperative at 1406 N.E. 50th St. near University Way Northeast, said he and his lawyer, Douglas Hiatt, picked up the roughly 500 records from the Police Department Thursday.

But it's not clear if they will get the marijuana back, which advocates say is for use by seriously ill patients.

"We're really happy right now, but the fight isn't over," Martinez said.

A King County Prosecutor's Office spokesman said charges would not be filed in the case, but referred questions about the marijuana and bongs to the Police Department.

Police said they don't have an answer about whether the items will be returned.

Though a police attorney pledged not to destroy the marijuana or bongs for the time being, he made no promises to give them back, Hiatt said.

Washington law allows seriously ill patients to possess a 60-day supply of marijuana if cleared by their physicians.

While federal law bans the drug, cooperatives -- where sick patients get together to obtain marijuana -- have sprouted up in several states that allow the practice.

The search was precipitated by a complaint from a neighbor who said she was allergic to marijuana and had noticed the odor of the drug for the past month, according to a search warrant affidavit.

When police arrived to search the cooperative, Martinez showed them around. Officers became suspicious because the odor became very strong and they saw marijuana, the affidavit said.

Martinez and Hiatt said they asked police not to confiscate the patient records but they did so anyway. Nobody was arrested.

Medical marijuana advocates were particularly concerned by the seizure because they feared police could misuse patients' medical records. The cooperative collects the records in order to print identification cards for members.

When asked by police officers, the patients can show them the cards to prove that they need marijuana.

Neither police nor prosecutors are apologizing for the seizure. In a statement released Thursday, the Prosecutor's Office said that police had a reasonable belief that the seized items "showed an effort to distribute marijuana in violation of state law."

Though state law allows legitimate users to possess marijuana, the statement pointed out that there are grey areas. For example, the law doesn't specify exactly how much marijuana sick people are allowed to possess.
Police return medical records, laptop to marijuana co-op

They may have returned the records but who's saying that it wasn't copied? I have a feeling that this isn't over yet.

Have a good one!:jointsmile:

So when they raid dispensaries, do they always seize patient files? I know of at least one co-op I belong to that was shut down. I know they took my driver's license and entered some information into their computer. Should I be concerned about this?

Nah, that just means that you are now on file as a suspicious character.

More likely now to get a ticket when pulled over. They're not gonna come busting into your house (Hopefully) Cops can be twisted sometimes...

Alerg....BAHHA allergic to HAFAWEGIBESA mari hee hee hee MARIJUANA!!!! HAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Fucking dingbat.
Anyway killerweed420 I'm pretty sure the guy would have been supplying the cannabis to them and it was his right to ask for info since he doesn't want any old stoner coming in for good weed.

I seriously almost cried when I started reading this. Just makes me so sad.... Then I got angry and hysterical

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Psycho4Bud

Police officers returned a laptop and patient records they seized from a University District medical marijuana cooperative,

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FUCKING bullshit, you mean they gave the computer back after to took and copied and store the patients info..

COPS:rambo: