Updated on May 1, 2020. Medical content reviewed by Dr. Joseph Rosado, MD, M.B.A, Chief Medical Officer
Patients in Oregon diagnosed with one of the following severe, debilitating, or life-threatening medical conditions, are afforded legal protection under Oregon medical marijuana laws, as per Ballot Measure 67 — “The Oregon Medical Marijuana Program”:
Other conditions are subject to approval by the Health Division of the Oregon Department of Human Resources.
On November 03, 1998, Ballot Measure 67 was approved. It effectively removed all state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients who meet medical marijuana qualifications in Oregon and possess a signed recommendation from an Oregon licensed Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathy (DO). This recommendation must state that marijuana “may mitigate” his or her debilitating symptoms.
Once patients have received certification from their physician, patients are required to register with the Oregon Medical Marijuana Patient Registry program, administered by the Oregon Department of Health Services (DHS).
Patients meeting medical marijuana qualifications in Oregon were encouraged by an April 2017 decision by state legislators to protect users from having their weed-purchasing habits and identities divulged by the dispensaries where they make their purchases. This means that the practice of dispensaries keeping a “digital trail” of purchases must end. These dispensaries routinely keep information such as the names, birthdates and addresses of pot buyers, taking that information from their drivers’ licenses.
Businesses typically use customers’ personal data for marketing purposes. However, legislators worried this would not only violate a customer’s right to privacy, but it could potentially make them vulnerable to federal prosecution. Legislators were concerned about signals from Washington, D.C. that the federal government would take a more proactive role in enforcing federal marijuana laws, and they didn’t want people who legally buy weed in Oregon to be susceptible to arrest.
Oregon joined Washington state, Alaska and Colorado – other states that have legalized recreational pot use – in moving to protect the identities of marijuana users. The measure passed by a 53 to 5 vote, and it was expected that the governor of the state would sign it into law.
Once the bill becomes law, marijuana retailers in Oregon would have 30 days to remove their customers’ personal data, and they would be banned from storing that information in the future. However, recreational users could opt to sign up for dispensary e-mail promotions such as discounts.
Some medical marijuana patients will claim they have a doctor’s prescription for medical marijuana, but marijuana prescriptions are in fact illegal. The federal government classifies marijuana as a schedule I drug. Therefore, doctors are unable to prescribe marijuana to their patients, and medical marijuana patients cannot go to a pharmacy to fill a prescription for medical marijuana. Instead, medical marijuana physicians will supply patients with a medical marijuana recommendation in compliance with state law.
Unlike other medical marijuana states, Oregon medical marijuana law registry I.D. cardholders, or designated primary caregivers of cardholders, may possess no more than six mature marijuana plants and 24 ounces of usable marijuana, and a combined total of up to eighteen marijuana seedlings.
Please check in with MarijuanaDoctors.com regularly for more information regarding Oregon medical marijuana qualifications or any other issues that concern medicinal cannabis. You will learn how to obtain a medical cannabis card in Oregon and much more. In addition, we will keep you up to date on issues involving medical marijuana as they warrant.
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