§329-54  Cooperative arrangements andconfidentiality.  (a)  The department of public safety shall cooperate withfederal and other state agencies in discharging its responsibilities concerningtraffic in controlled substances and in suppressing the abuse of controlledsubstances.  To this end, it may:

(1)  Arrange for the exchange of information amonggovernmental officials concerning the use and abuse of controlled substances;

(2)  Coordinate and cooperate in training programsconcerning controlled substance law enforcement at local and state levels;

(3)  Cooperate with the Bureau by establishing acentralized unit to accept, catalogue, file, and collect statistics, includingrecords of drug dependent persons and other controlled substance law offenderswithin the State, and make the information available for federal, state andlocal law enforcement purposes.  It shall not furnish the name or identity of apatient or research subject whose identity could not be obtained undersubsection (c); and

(4)  Conduct programs of eradication aimed atdestroying wild or illicit growth of plant species from which controlledsubstances may be extracted.

(b)  Results, information, and evidencereceived from the Bureau relating to the regulatory functions of this chapter,including results of inspections conducted by it may be relied and acted uponby the department of public safety in the exercise of its regulatory functionsunder this chapter.

(c)  A practitioner engaged in medical researchis not required or compelled to furnish the name or identity of a researchsubject to the department of public safety, nor may the practitioner becompelled in any state or local civil, criminal, administrative, legislative,or other proceedings to furnish the name or identity of any research subjectthat the practitioner is obligated to keep confidential. [L 1972, c 10, pt of§1; gen ch 1985; am L 1990, c 281, §10; am L 1997, c 280, §5]