A lawsuit has been filed against an Oklahoma medical marijuana law over traffic stops.
Owners of an Oklahoma medical marijuana clinic have filed a lawsuit to stop part of Senate Bill 1030 from going into effect.
The bill had been signed into a law in May and focuses mostly on zoning rules. One provision regards traffic stops and what would happen if a medical marijuana patient does not have their card on them.
According to officials, police officers will be able to see if a person has a legal medical marijuana card through the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Telecommunications System.
“The State Department of Health shall assist any law enforcement officer in the performance of his or her duties upon such law enforcement officer’s request or the request of other local officials having jurisdiction. The department shall share information with law enforcement agencies upon request without a subpoena or search warrant,” the bill reads.
“The State Department of Health shall make available all information displayed on medical marijuana licenses, as well as whether or not the license is valid, to law enforcement electronically through the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Telecommunications System.”
Some believe this is an invasion of one’s privacy.
Tulsa World has reported that attorney Rob Durbin filed the lawsuit on behalf of Tulsa Higher Care Clinic Inc. and 11 patients and claims that Senate Bill 1030 could cause medical marijuana patients to be singled out and treated differently during traffic stops.
“Patient information is not part of what was supposed to be disclosed to OLETS and law enforcement,” Durbin said. “What they intended to be disclosed was business license information. What this bill does, by allowing patient information to be released, is it essentially brands every medical marijuana patient license holder with a scarlet letter in the state of Oklahoma.”
“Before Senate Bill 1030, they could either get fined or actually be arrested and put in jail for the weekend,” Sen. Lonnie Paxton said to News 4.
“So, what Senate Bill 1030 does is it clears all that up and says that, if it’s an ounce and a half of marijuana or less and they don’t have their card with them, they cannot be arrested but they can still be fined.”
