Pubdate: Fri, 18 Jun 2010 Source: New York Daily News (NY) Copyright: 2010 Daily News, L.P. Contact: http://www.nydailynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/295 REEFER MADNESS: PROPOSED STATE MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW IS A RECIPE FOR DISASTER Coming soon to a neighborhood near you: Out-of-control marijuana sales authorized by state lawmakers - key among them Assemblyman Richard Gottfried and state Sen. Tom Duane. These two have engineered a supposed medical marijuana law that would, in fact, be a license for legalized pot-dealing, potentially in thousands of storefronts across the city. Under their bill, even podiatrists and midwives could prescribe dope to practically any patient with virtually any health complaint - who would then be able to stop by the local storefront joint joint without fear of arrest. The evils of this scheme are blatantly obvious from the nightmare that unfolded in Los Angeles after passage of California's medical marijuana law in 1996. That city now has upward of 700 pot shops - outnumbering even Starbucks locations. The "patients" are overwhelmingly males ranging from their teens to late 20s - not exactly the seriously ill demographic. And testing has shown that practically all of the dope originated with violent Mexican gangs and often is laced with pesticides. "I think about the Mexican drug cartels hooting all the way to the bank as we silly Americans bankroll them," says assistant Los Angeles city attorney Jane Usher. Told of the terms that Duane and Gottfried have written into their bill, Usher said: "I'm as concerned for your residents as I am for ours about the implications of this insufficiently regulated model." Look at who could get marijuana under this Cheech and Chong plan: Anyone with a "severe debilitating or life-threatening condition" and their associated complications and symptoms. While that sounds restrictive, it opens potential loopholes not found in the law recently passed by New Jersey. That statute limits availability to people with certain specified diseases, such as AIDS, cancer and Lou Gehrig's disease. Look who can dispense the stuff: Any medical "practitioner," a category that includes chiropractors and nurses. In New Jersey, only medical doctors can recommend marijuana, and only in a genuine physician-patient relationship. Look at where Duane and Gottfried would allow pot shops to open: Anywhere, with no limit on the number of locations. Los Angeles is imposing a 70-store cap, and ordering them away from schools and playgrounds. The New York bill fails to demand criminal background checks on operators, fails to say where they could get merchandise, and fails to give City Hall any say-so over how they operate. Despite these glaring flaws, Duane and Gottfried, chairmen of their respective health committees, have teed up the bill for passage. The Assembly has twice okayed similar measures, and Deputy Senate Majority Leader Jeff Klein of the Bronx predicts this one will be included in, of all places, the budget bill. The idea is that dope shop fees would bring in $15 million a year. There is a right way and a wrong way to approach medical marijuana. The right way would be to strictly limit those who could prescribe it, the conditions permitting prescriptions and the number of distribution locations. Say one per borough in a major health care facility. The wrong way is the Duane-Gottfried way. This is madness. You know what kind. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D