Pa. Department of Health sues to keep medical marijuana program data secret

[FakeNoose]

(link) https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2023/02/pa-medical-marijuana-cards-commonwealth-court-lawsuit/

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Department of Health is again suing Spotlight PA in an attempt to keep information about how patients obtain a medical marijuana card secret from the public. This time, the health department does not want to reveal how often individual physicians approve patients for the medical program — information that could help identify outliers who might be bending or breaking the state’s rules.

Spotlight PA sought that information under the state’s open records law, and the newsroom specifically noted that it was seeking information about doctors and not the names of patients. In January, an independent state agency determined that records should be made public to the extent that they exist, citing a recent Commonwealth Court decision in which judges rejected the health department’s broad interpretation of the medical marijuana law’s confidentiality rules.

The state Office of Open Records gave the health department 30 days to hand over relevant records. But the health department refused and this month appealed to Commonwealth Court — an action that will likely delay access to the records for at least several months, if not permanently.

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Doctors are at the heart of the state’s billion-dollar medical cannabis industry. Each year, hundreds of thousands of patients need approval from a physician in order to obtain a medical marijuana card and shop at dispensaries. There were more than 1,800 approved doctors in the program as of November, department records show. A patient’s first certification often costs between $125 and $225, and certifications must be renewed at least annually.

- more at link -

If the state legalizes recreational marijuana, or eases the restrictions like our neighboring states have done, certain Pennsylvania doctors will lose out on a HUGE PAYDAY because PA residents would no longer need to purchase those "medical marijuana" permits. That's why they want to keep the Dept. of Health information secret!