Regulation 5 CCR 1006-2-1

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 11, June 10, 2024

Regulation 5 CCR 1006-2-1 - Establishment and confidentiality of the registry for the medical use of marijuana

A. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment ("the department") shall create and maintain a confidential registry ("the registry") of patients who have applied for and are entitled to receive a registry identification card.

1. All personal medical records and personal identifying information held by the department in compliance with these regulations shall be confidential information.

2. No person shall be permitted to gain access to any information about patients in this registry, or any information otherwise maintained in the registry by the department about physicians and primary care-givers of patients in the registry, except for authorized employees of the department in the course of their official duties and authorized employees of state and local law enforcement agencies which have stopped or arrested a person who claims to be engaged in the medical use of marijuana and in possession of a registry identification card issued pursuant to regulations two and three, or the functional equivalent of the registry identification card.

a. Department employees may, upon receipt of an inquiry from a state or local law enforcement agency, confirm that a registry identification card has been suspended when a patient is no longer diagnosed as having a debilitating or disabling medical condition.

b. Authorized department employees may respond to an inquiry from state or local law enforcement regarding the registry status of a patient or primary care-giver by confirming that the person is or is not registered. The information released to state and local law enforcement must be the minimum necessary to confirm registry status.

c. Authorized state and local law enforcement employees shall validate their inquiry of a patient or primary care-giver by producing the registry identification card number of a patient, or name, date of birth, and last four digits of the individual's social security number of the individual under inquiry if the person does not have a registry identification card.

d. Authorized department employees may confirm a waiver for homebound or minor patients' transportation of medical marijuana from a medical marijuana center or a waiver for a primary care-giver serving more than five patients, upon state or local law enforcement inquiry. The minimum necessary information shall be communicated to confirm or deny a waiver.

3. The department may release information concerning a specific patient to that patient with the written authorization of such patient.

4. Primary care-givers and potential primary care-givers may authorize the inclusion of their contact information in the voluntary caregiver registry maintained by the department to allow authorized department staff to release their contact information to new registry patients only in accordance with Regulation 9(C) below.

B. Any officer or employee or agent of the department who violates this regulation by releasing or making public confidential information in the registry shall be subject to any existing statutory penalties for a breach of confidentiality of the registry.

C. Definitions

1. "Adult applicant" is defined as a patient eighteen years of age or older. Applicants between the ages of 18 and 20 years must meet the requirements at § 25-1.5-106.(5.5), C.R.S.

2. "Bona fide physician-patient relationship", for purposes of the medical marijuana program, means:

a. A physician and a patient have a treatment or counseling relationship, in the course of which the physician has completed a full in-person assessment of the patient's medical history, including an assessment of the patient's medical and mental health history to determine whether the patient has a medical or mental health issue that could be exacerbated by the use of medical marijuana and reviewing a previous diagnosis for a debilitating or disabling medical condition, and current medical condition, including an appropriate personal physical examination. If the physician is not the patient's primary care physician, the recommending physician shall review the existing records of the diagnosing physician or licensed mental health provider. This does not require a mental health examination prior to making a recommendation per requirements established in § 25.1.5-106, C.R.S.

b. The physician has consulted with the patient and if the patient is a minor, with the patient's parents, with respect to the patient's debilitating or disabling medical condition and has explained the possible risks and benefits of use of medical marijuana to the patient, and each of the minor patient's parents residing in Colorado, before the patient applies for a registry identification card. Documentation of the consultation shall be done in accordance with all applicable state and federal laws and regulations; and

c. The physician is available to or offers to provide follow-up care and treatment to the patient, including but not limited to patient examinations, to determine the efficacy of the use of medical marijuana as a treatment of the patient's debilitating or disabling medical condition.

3. "Council" means the medical marijuana scientific advisory council appointed by the executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment per requirements established in § 25-1.5-106.5, C.R.S.

4. "Grant program" means the Colorado medical marijuana research grant program created in § 25-1.5-106.5, C.R.S. to fund research intended to ascertain the efficacy of administering marijuana and its component parts as part of medical treatment.

5. "In good standing" with respect to a physician's or dentist or advanced practice practitioner license means:

a. The physician holds a doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathic medicine degree from an accredited medical school or the dentist or advanced practice practitioner holds a degree in a medical field within his or her scope of practice.

b. The physician holds a valid license to practice medicine, or the dentist or advanced practice practitioner holds a valid license to practice within his or her scope of practice, in Colorado that does not contain a restriction or condition that prohibits the recommendation of medical marijuana or for a license issued prior to July 1, 2011, is valid, unrestricted and unconditioned; and

c. The physician or dentist or advanced practice practitioner has a valid and unrestricted United States Department of Justice federal Drug Enforcement Administration controlled substances registration.

6. "Minor applicant" is defined as a patient less than eighteen years of age.

7. "Patient" means a person who has a debilitating medical condition or disabling medical condition, § 25-1.5-106(2) (d.3), C.R.S.

8. "Physician" means a doctor of medicine, including a doctor of osteopathic medicine, who maintains, in good standing, a license to practice medicine issued by the state of Colorado, Section (1)(e) of Section 14 of Article XVIII; however, when a physician is making a medical marijuana recommendation for a disabling medical condition, "physician" also includes a dentist or advanced practice practitioner with prescriptive authority (physician assistant, advanced nurse practitioner, podiatrist, or optometrist) who holds a valid license, and is in good standing. § 25-1.5-106.5(2) (d.4), C.R.S.

9. "Primary care-giver" or "primary caregiver" means a person other than the patient and the patient's physician, who is eighteen years of age or older and has significant responsibility for managing the well-being of a patient who has a debilitating or disabling medical condition. A primary caregiver may have one or more of the following relationships:

a. A parent of a child as described by Section (6) (e) of Section 14 of Article XVIII of the Colorado Constitution or a parent of a child with a disabling medical condition and anyone who assists that parent with caregiver responsibilities, including cultivation and transportation;

b. An advising caregiver who advises a patient on which medical marijuana products to use and how to dose them and does not possess, provide, cultivate, or transport marijuana on behalf of the patient;

c. A transporting caregiver who purchases and transports marijuana to a patient who is homebound; or

d. A cultivating caregiver who grows marijuana for a patient.

10. "Significant responsibility for managing the well-being of a patient" means that the caregiver is involved in basic or instrumental activities of daily living. Cultivating or transporting marijuana and the act of advising a patient on which medical marijuana products to use and how to dose them constitutes a "significant responsibility."

11. "Written documentation" means a statement signed by a patient's physician or copies of the patient's pertinent medical records as defined in Section 14 of Article XVIII of the Colorado Constitution.

Regulation 5 CCR 1006-2-1

37 CR 20, October 25,2014, effective 11/14/2014

38 CR 15, August 10, 2015, effective 9/14/2015

38 CR 24, December 25, 2015, effective 1/14/2016

41 CR 08, April 25, 2018, effective 5/15/2018

42 CR 08, April 10, 2019, effective 5/15/2019

42 CR 20, October 25, 2019, effective 11/14/2019

45 CR 01, January 10, 2022, effective 2/14/2022

45 CR 06, March 25, 2022, effective 4/14/2022