Missouri Lawmaker Moves To Block Feds From Getting Medical Marijuana Patient Info

Missouri officials would be prohibited from sharing information about registered medical marijuana patients with the federal government under a new bill pre-filed by a state lawmaker on Thursday.

Voters in the state approved one of three competing medical cannabis initiatives during November’s midterm elections. So if the new legislation passes, patients enrolled in the program wouldn’t have to worry about the state outing them to the feds, who still regard cannabis as a strictly controlled illegal substance.

Any state official who did share medical marijuana patient info with a federal agency would be committing a felony under the proposal.

Missouri Rep. Nick Schroer (R) is sponsoring the bill, which states:

“1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no state agency shall disclose to the federal government the statewide list of persons who have obtained a medical marijuana card.

2. Any violation of this section is a class E felony.”

Federal prosecution of medical marijuana patients or providers is rare—the Justice Department is barred from using federal dollars to enforce prohibition in medical cannabis states—but not entirely unheard of.

“It’s very, very unlikely that there’s going to be [federal] targeting of individual customers,” Tamar Todd, legal director for the Drug Policy Alliance, told PolitiFact earlier this year. “Many, many other targets would come first.”

Still, Schroer’s bill would at least provide a safeguard in the event that the government radically shifts its drug enforcement policy. And it sends a strong message that state officials want the feds to respect their rights to enact their own marijuana laws without any kind of interference.

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The new Missouri bill is one of several that have been pre-filed for 2019 in states from Nevada to Texas.

Marijuana Bills Are Already Being Pre-Filed For 2019 Legislative Sessions

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