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An Act To Include Medicinal Marijuana Patients in the Controlled Substances Prescription Monitoring Program
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §7249-A  is enacted to read:
§ 7249-A. Reporting of medicinal marijuana patients
 
1.  Information required.     Notwithstanding the provisions of section 2425, subsection 8, paragraph C, the Department of Health and Human Services shall submit to the office, by electronic means or other format authorized by the office, specific items of information regarding medicinal marijuana patients holding registry identification cards issued pursuant to section 2425, as follows:
 
A.  The patient's name;
 
B.  The patient's address;
 
C.  The patient's date of birth;
 
D.  The name of the physician who prepared the written certification upon which the registry identification card was issued; and
 
E.  The date the registry identification card was issued.
Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §7250, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 483, §1, is amended to read:
 
1. Confidentiality.   Except as provided in this section, prescription monitoring information and information provided pursuant to section 7249-A submitted to the office isare confidential and isare not a public recordrecords as defined in Title 1, section 402, subsection 3.
Sec. 3. 22 MRSA §7250, sub-§4, as corrected by RR 2009, c. 1, §§14 to 16, is amended to read:
 
4. Access to information.   The following persons may access prescription monitoring information or information provided pursuant to section 7249-A:
 
A. A prescriber, insofar as the information relates to a patient under the prescriber's care;
 
B. A dispenser, insofar as the information relates to a customer of the dispenser seeking to have a prescription filled;
 
C. The executive director, or a board investigator as designated by each board, of the state boards of licensure of podiatric medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, medicine, osteopathy, veterinary medicine, nursing or other boards representing health care disciplines whose licensees are prescribers, as required for an investigation, with reasonable cause;
 
D. A patient to whom a prescription is written, insofar as the information relates to that patient;
 
E. Office personnel or personnel of any vendor or contractor, as necessary for establishing and maintaining the program's electronic system;
 
F. The Office of Chief Medical Examiner for the purpose of conducting an investigation or inquiry into the cause, manner and circumstances of death in a medical examiner case as described in section 3025. Prescription monitoring information in the possession or under the control of the Office of Chief Medical Examiner is confidential and, notwithstanding section 3022, may not be disseminated. Information that is not prescription monitoring information and is separately acquired following access to prescription monitoring information pursuant to this paragraph remains subject to protection or dissemination in accordance with section 3022; and
 
G. The office that administers the MaineCare program pursuant to chapter 855 for the purposes of managing the care of its members, monitoring the purchase of controlled substances by its members and avoiding duplicate dispensing of controlled substances.
Sec. 4. 22 MRSA §7251, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 483, §1, is amended to read:
 
2. Unlawful disclosure or use of information.   A person who intentionally or knowingly uses or discloses prescription monitoring information or information provided pursuant to section 7249-A in violation of this chapter, unless otherwise authorized by law, is guilty of a Class C crime.
 
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to include the names and related information of medicinal marijuana patients registered with the State in the Controlled Substances Prescription Monitoring Program operated by the Office of Substance Abuse. The information submitted is confidential as are the names of patients using controlled substances and prescribers of controlled substances.