One week after the city of Riverside's first medical marijuana clinic opened its doors, staff and patients alike say business is coming along well. Lanny Swerdlow, a registered nurse and longtime cannabis advocate who runs it, said the clinic's doctor issued about a dozen recommendations for the drug on the opening day, Jan. 17. The clinic does not dispense marijuana.

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Riverside County is about to get a new clinic for medical marijuana patients. And Lanny Swerdlow, president of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project, is going to be running it. Swerdlow, also a registered nurse, announced he will be opening the clinic, to be called THCF Medical Clinic, at 647 N. Main St., Riverside. The clinic should be open by early December, he said.

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A new medical marijuana clinic is scheduled to open this December in Riverside County, California, run by The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation (THCF), a nonprofit organization. Lenny Swerdlow, president of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project, will be overseeing its operations, which will include writing letters of recommendation to patients—including those living with HIV—who may benefit from using marijuana medicinally, whether as an appetite stimulant or to offset medication side effects.

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The subpoena says, "You are required not to disclose the existence of this request. Any such disclosure could impede the investigation being conducted and thereby interfere with the enforcement of the law."

I believe this requirement violates my right to free speech and is contrary to my life's work and The Hemp & Cannabis Foundation's goals to end adult marijuana prohibition, restore industrial hemp and help medical marijuana patients.

We can not disclose any patient's identity. Our obligation to protect our patients' privacy is a sacred duty. We shall fight against this subpoena and for patients using medical marijuana until we prevail. Learn more

D. Paul Stanford, CEO of the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, said the ruling will "protect medical marijuana patients' records and confidentiality. There are limits to the government's power to intimidate doctors and patients, and fortunately, the federal courts have delineated those limits."

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Privacy - A federal judge denies a grand jury access to Oregon medical marijuana treatment records A federal judge has thrown out sweeping subpoenas for patient records kept by Oregon's medical marijuana program and a private clinic, saying privacy concerns overruled a grand jury's demand for information. Chief U.S. District Judge Robert H. Whaley in Yakima ruled on the subpoenas four months after a grand jury in that city issued them.

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Ads appearing each week on the back of the Stranger and Seattle Weekly – and similar papers on the West Coast and in Hawaii – are pretty much picking a fight with the feds: “Medical marijuana. Our doctors can help.” The ads then provide a phone number for The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation clinic, which connects patients with doctors who specialize in writing medical marijuana authorizations for the sick and dying. To the the Drug Enforcement Administration, however, THCF is flagrantly running a multi-state business that permits people to violate federal law.

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