36-2810. Confidentiality

(Caution: 1998 Prop. 105 applies)

A. The following information received and records kept by the department for purposes of administering this chapter are confidential, exempt from title 39, chapter 1, article 2, exempt from section 36-105 and not subject to disclosure to any individual or public or private entity, except as necessary for authorized employees of the department to perform official duties of the department pursuant to this chapter:

1. Applications or renewals, their contents and supporting information submitted by qualifying patients and designated caregivers, including information regarding their designated caregivers and physicians.

2. Applications or renewals, their contents and supporting information submitted by or on behalf of nonprofit medical marijuana dispensaries in compliance with this chapter, including the physical addresses of nonprofit medical marijuana dispensaries.

3. The individual names and other information identifying persons to whom the department has issued registry identification cards.

B. Any dispensing information required to be kept under section 36-2806.02, subsection B or department regulation shall identify cardholders by their registry identification numbers and not contain names or other personally identifying information.

C. Any department hard drives or other data recording media that are no longer in use and that contain cardholder information must be destroyed. The department shall retain a signed statement from a department employee confirming the destruction.

D. Except for public health research, data subject to this section shall not be combined or linked in any manner with any other list or database and shall not be used for any purpose not provided for in this chapter.

E. This section does not preclude the following notifications:

1. Department employees may notify law enforcement about falsified or fraudulent information submitted to the department if the employee who suspects that falsified or fraudulent information has been submitted has conferred with the employee's supervisor and both agree that the circumstances warrant reporting.

2. The department may notify state or local law enforcement about apparent criminal violations of this chapter if the employee who suspects the offense has conferred with the employee's supervisor and both agree that the circumstances warrant reporting.

3. Nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary agents may notify the department of a suspected violation or attempted violation of this chapter or department rules.

4. The department may notify the Arizona medical board, the Arizona board of osteopathic examiners in medicine and surgery, the naturopathic physicians medical board and the board of homeopathic and integrated medicine examiners if the department believes a physician has committed an act of unprofessional conduct as prescribed by the appropriate board's statutes because of the licensee's failure to comply with the requirements of this chapter or rules adopted pursuant to this chapter.

F. This section does not preclude submission of the section 36-2809 report to the legislature. The annual report submitted to the legislature is subject to title 39, chapter 1, article 2.