§329-123 Registration requirements; qualifying patients; primary caregivers. (a) Physicians or advanced practice registered nurses who issue written certifications shall provide, in each written certification, the name, address, patient identification number, and other identifying information of the qualifying patient. The department of health shall require, in rules adopted pursuant to chapter 91, that all written certifications comply with a designated form completed by or on behalf of a qualifying patient. The form shall require information from the applicant, primary caregiver, and physician or advanced practice registered nurse as specifically required or permitted by this chapter. The form shall require the address of the location where the cannabis is grown and shall appear on the registry card issued by the department of health. The certifying physician or advanced practice registered nurse shall be required to have a bona fide physician-patient relationship or bona fide advanced practice registered nurse-patient relationship, as applicable, with the qualifying patient. All current active medical cannabis permits shall be honored through their expiration date.

(b) Qualifying patients shall register with the department of health. The registration shall be effective until the expiration of the certificate issued by the department of health and signed by the physician or advanced practice registered nurse. Every qualifying patient shall provide sufficient identifying information to establish the personal identities of the qualifying patient and the primary caregiver. Qualifying patients shall report changes in information within ten working days. Every qualifying patient shall have only one primary caregiver at any given time. The department of health shall issue to the qualifying patient a registration certificate, and shall charge $35 per year.

(c) Primary caregivers shall register with the department of health. Every primary caregiver shall be responsible for the care of only one qualifying patient at any given time, unless the primary caregiver is the parent, guardian, or person having legal custody of more than one minor qualifying patient, in which case the primary caregiver may be responsible for the care of more than one minor qualifying patient at any given time; provided that the primary caregiver is the parent, guardian, or person having legal custody of all of the primary caregiver's qualifying patients. The department of health may permit registration of up to two primary caregivers for a minor qualifying patient; provided that both primary caregivers are the parent, guardian, or person having legal custody of the minor qualifying patient.

(d) Upon inquiry by a law enforcement agency, which inquiry may be made twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the department of health shall immediately verify whether the subject of the inquiry has registered with the department of health and may provide reasonable access to the registry information for official law enforcement purposes.

(e) This section shall not apply to registration of a qualifying out-of-state patient or a caregiver of a qualifying out-of-state patient. [L 2000, c 228, pt of §2; am L 2011, c 73, §6; am L 2013, c 178, §4; am L 2015, c 241, §8; am L 2016, c 230, §9; am L 2017, c 170, §2; am L 2018, c 116, §6]

Revision Note

Pursuant to §23G-15, in:

(1) Subsection (a), "marijuana" changed to "cannabis" to

conform to L 2017, c 170; and

(2) Subsection (c), "up to two" substituted for "up two".