pollenchucker
- 99
- 8
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=172201&catid=339
DENVER - It was the last thing Harold Morton expected to find while taking some recyclables out to the alley behind his home. When he walked past a Dumpster, he saw it in a cardboard box: a thick blue binder.
"I picked the book up and I opened it and right away. I noticed the top of each page; medical marijuana registry forms. The next thing I noticed is there is all these people's personal information on each one of those sheets," Morton said.
The forms were inside plastic sleeves and contained social security numbers and dates of birth, along with patient names, addresses and telephone numbers. The binder contained the personal and medical information of dozens of patients.
The forms were on letterhead identified as Apothecary of Colorado, a dispensary in Denver.
Adam Stapen, an attorney for Apothecary of Colorado, says their patient records are "kept under lock and key to protect privacy of patients."
He says the current owners purchased the dispensary on July 1 and it is possible the patient records are from before that.
While the Colorado Department of Revenue is charged with overseeing medical marijuana dispensaries, they have no statutory authority regarding the handling of patient records. The state legislature would need to pass a statute creating such authority.
"This is really upsetting that patient personal information, their medical records, could be so carelessly discarded and left for others to find. Not only does it raise the specter of identity theft, but is also compromises people's personal medical information," Pat Steadman, a Colorado state senator representing Denver, said. "This is something the legislature probably will be debating come next month."
Morton was going to deliver the binder to the Denver Police. He says his concern is for the patients with information in the binder.
"I thought people should know all this information was loose, lying in an alley in Denver," Morton said. "I've had problems in the past with identity theft myself and that was my first thought, that all of these people's identities could or already have been stolen."
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Kathleen nailed it as usual with her comment:
Anyone outraged yet? This major F-up by Wanda James is going to be nothing when the registry goes online. Wikileaks Colorado MMJ Compromised/Hacked/Cracked....you pick the word--I can see the headlines now.
The CDPHE is about to "replace" the constitutionally protected/private registry with a internet shared "integrated system" with CDPHE, Dept of Revenue and ALL law enforcement in the state, via HB1284 (which Wanda, CMMR and Sensible Colorado supported), passed by our state legislature.
Patients must DEMAND justice. And patients will have to decide if they are willing to give up their privacy by shopping in an MMC once the 'new' super prohibition over regulations from the DOR go into action. Right around the corner, Colorado. Find a caregiver now! MMC's are becoming law enforcement pre-processing/data collecting centers, nothing more.
If your MMC has not yet warned you of the oncoming attack on your patient privacy, RUN! Ask for your paperwork back! Take your plant count back! And if an MMC put you or your paperwork into a computer--get an attorney!
If the MMC applicants were willing to give up ALL their private info and power of attorney to the DOR to merely 'apply' to be an MMC in belief they were 'saving' their business, whats it to them when confronted with releasing your private info to the DOR and law enforcement to 'save' their business? If they don't comply with the DOR and/or (law enforcement) they will be closed down.
Wanda never cared about patient privacy anyway. She helped write HB-1284 which violates EVERYONE's privacy. Over 100,000 patients and caregivers in the CDPHE confidential registry are about to experience the same trauma.
Good luck to all.
DENVER - It was the last thing Harold Morton expected to find while taking some recyclables out to the alley behind his home. When he walked past a Dumpster, he saw it in a cardboard box: a thick blue binder.
"I picked the book up and I opened it and right away. I noticed the top of each page; medical marijuana registry forms. The next thing I noticed is there is all these people's personal information on each one of those sheets," Morton said.
The forms were inside plastic sleeves and contained social security numbers and dates of birth, along with patient names, addresses and telephone numbers. The binder contained the personal and medical information of dozens of patients.
The forms were on letterhead identified as Apothecary of Colorado, a dispensary in Denver.
Adam Stapen, an attorney for Apothecary of Colorado, says their patient records are "kept under lock and key to protect privacy of patients."
He says the current owners purchased the dispensary on July 1 and it is possible the patient records are from before that.
While the Colorado Department of Revenue is charged with overseeing medical marijuana dispensaries, they have no statutory authority regarding the handling of patient records. The state legislature would need to pass a statute creating such authority.
"This is really upsetting that patient personal information, their medical records, could be so carelessly discarded and left for others to find. Not only does it raise the specter of identity theft, but is also compromises people's personal medical information," Pat Steadman, a Colorado state senator representing Denver, said. "This is something the legislature probably will be debating come next month."
Morton was going to deliver the binder to the Denver Police. He says his concern is for the patients with information in the binder.
"I thought people should know all this information was loose, lying in an alley in Denver," Morton said. "I've had problems in the past with identity theft myself and that was my first thought, that all of these people's identities could or already have been stolen."
=============
Kathleen nailed it as usual with her comment:
Anyone outraged yet? This major F-up by Wanda James is going to be nothing when the registry goes online. Wikileaks Colorado MMJ Compromised/Hacked/Cracked....you pick the word--I can see the headlines now.
The CDPHE is about to "replace" the constitutionally protected/private registry with a internet shared "integrated system" with CDPHE, Dept of Revenue and ALL law enforcement in the state, via HB1284 (which Wanda, CMMR and Sensible Colorado supported), passed by our state legislature.
Patients must DEMAND justice. And patients will have to decide if they are willing to give up their privacy by shopping in an MMC once the 'new' super prohibition over regulations from the DOR go into action. Right around the corner, Colorado. Find a caregiver now! MMC's are becoming law enforcement pre-processing/data collecting centers, nothing more.
If your MMC has not yet warned you of the oncoming attack on your patient privacy, RUN! Ask for your paperwork back! Take your plant count back! And if an MMC put you or your paperwork into a computer--get an attorney!
If the MMC applicants were willing to give up ALL their private info and power of attorney to the DOR to merely 'apply' to be an MMC in belief they were 'saving' their business, whats it to them when confronted with releasing your private info to the DOR and law enforcement to 'save' their business? If they don't comply with the DOR and/or (law enforcement) they will be closed down.
Wanda never cared about patient privacy anyway. She helped write HB-1284 which violates EVERYONE's privacy. Over 100,000 patients and caregivers in the CDPHE confidential registry are about to experience the same trauma.
Good luck to all.
