White House Seeks Massachusetts Data On Medical Marijuana Users: Report

BOSTON, MA — A great fissure between the federal government and state policies on marijuana use continues to widen, and Massachusetts has found itself on the opposite side of the Trump administration. Now, as a the Boston Globe reports that the National Marijuana Initiative, a branch of an anti-drug task force within the White House, seeks to acquire Massachusetts data on medical cannabis users, some advocates are worried that privacy rights are at risk.

Don Quigley, the deputy coordinator of the initiative, requested data on 40,000 registered medical marijuana users in the state, according to the Globe. The data would remain anonymized, Quigley said, and is only part of a wider effort to collect such data by the federal government. Under President Obama, the federal government took a relatively hands-off approach when it came to state-based legalization of marijuana, and the Trump administration has signaled that it would continue a similar approach to laws allowing for medical uses. (For more local news, subscribe to the Boston Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch.)

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is still considering whether it will hand over data on the health conditions of registered medical marijuana users in Massachusetts, but, as the Globe reports, it has already provided the initiative with data on patients' ages and genders. Advocates say they support credible research, but they want to be sure that any sensitive personal information is kept confidential.

Read the full report at the Boston Globe>>

AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo