Medical marijuana patients' personal information found in trash pile

PHOENIX - A medical marijuana dispensary is conducting an investigation into how sensitive patient information ended up in a pile of trash on a public sidewalk.

The man who found the medical records believes this is a breach of patient privacy. The documents weren't shredded and were laying out in the open.

Somehow, trash from Horizon THC, a medical marijuana dispensary near 31st Avenue and Peoria, ended up in a pile of garbage across the street and visible from the sidewalk. The man who was walking by took a video of the sensitive information he came across.

"There was a whole bunch of labels used for the dispensary labels you put on the bottles for the meds.. people's information, medical marijuana ID number,s what kind of meds they get," said Nick Mumaw.

Mumaw contacted the dispensary, letting them know what he found. He says a couple of employees came out and collected the items.

"He didn't really seem like he cared too much about too much about it.. these are people's lives and their information and if it gets in the wrong hands, that could be very detrimental," said Mumaw.

A manager at the dispensary told FOX 10 they have been experiencing problems with homeless people breaking into their trash bin. They've contacted the police and ordered a steel bin with a lid that locks -- but what was most concerning to the man who found the dispensary's trash is the fact that items were intact. Ironically, a fresh pile of shredded trash is now in the spot where Mumaw originally found the patient information.

"Obviously, if they're not shredding it, how many other times has this happened before?" he asked.

They attorney for the dispenary says their policy is to shred patient information before disposing of it in the trash and an investigation is underway into how this happened.