670                                LAWS OF MARYLAND                        [CH. 378

study and which name or otherwise identify any person or persons,
are confidential records within the custody and control of the Com-
mission, and may be used only for the purposes of research and
study for which assembled or procured.

(b)    It is unlawful for any person to give away or otherwise to
divulge to a person or persons not engaged in such research and
study for the Commission, any of such records, reports, statements,
notes, or other information which name or otherwise identify any
person or persons. Any person who violates any provision of this
subtitle is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined
not more than fifty dollars ($50).

(c)    Access to and use of any such records, reports, statements,
notes, or other information also are protected and regulated by the
provisions of Section 101 of Article 35 and Section 10 of Article
75C of this Code.

(d)    Nothing in this section applies to or restricts the use as
publicizing statistics, data or other material which summarize or
refer to any such records, reports, statements, notes or information
in the aggregate and without referring to or disclosing the identity
of any individual person or persons.

101.

The records, reports, statements, notes, or other information de-
scribed in Section 1-1 of Article 43 of this Code, assembled or pro-
cured by the State Board of Health and Mental Hygiene or those
described in Section 306C of Article 27, assembled or procured for
the Maryland Commission to Study Problems of Drug Addition,
for the purposes there specified, are not admissible as evidence in
any court or in any administrative hearing or procedure; and the
employees or agents of the Board or Commission shall not be com-
pelled to divulge any of such records, reports, statements, notes,
or other information.

10.

No action may be brought against any person, firm or corpora-
tion furnishing to the State Board of Health and Mental Hygiene
or the Maryland Commission to Study Problems of Drug Addiction,
or any of [its] their authorized agents or employees, for purposes
of research and study, any of the records, reports, statements,
notes, or other information described in Section 1-1 of Article 43
or Section 306D of Article 27 of this Code.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
June 1, 1966 IS HEREBY DECLARED TO BE AN EMERGENCY
MEASURE AND NECESSARY FOR THE IMMEDIATE PRESER-
VATION OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY AND HAV-
ING BEEN PASSED BY A YEA AND NAY VOTE SUPPORTED
BY THREE-FIFTHS OF ALL MEMBERS ELECTED TO EACH
OF THE TWO HOUSES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, THE
SAME SHALL TAKE EFFECT FROM THE DATE OF ITS
PASSAGE.

Approved April 29, 1966.