Medical marijuana records found near dumpster

A Denver resident got a surprise yesterday when he took his recycling out: He found a binder full of information about people who have applied for or have received medical marijuana licenses.

From a story at the 9news website:

“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.

Medical marijuana advocates today decried what they say is a medical marijuana registry lacking the safeguards needed to keep records confidential.

Scot Kersgaard has been managing editor of a political newspaper, editor and co-owner of a ski town newspaper, executive editor of eight high-tech magazines (where he worked with current Apple CEO Tim Cook), deputy press secretary to a U.S. Senator, and an outdoors columnist at the Rocky Mountain News. He has an English degree from the University of Washington. He was awarded a fellowship to study internet journalism at the University of Maryland's Knight Center for Specialized Journalism. He was student body president in college. He spends his free time hiking and skiing.

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