Pubdate: Sun, 12 Aug 2012
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2012 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Kevin A. Sabet

MASS. HEADING DOWN SLIPPERY SLOPE WITH PROPOSED LAW

Unfortunately, Jenifer B. McKim mixes up apples and oranges in her 
account of Maine's medical marijuana industry and how it compares to 
Massachusetts' proposed law ("Maine a case study in medical 
marijuana," Page A1, Aug. 5). Massachusetts voters will be deciding 
on whether to license 35 marijuana storefronts that would in turn 
sell marijuana to virtually anyone with a recommendation for almost 
any medical reason.

The proposed Massachusetts law, funded by drug legalization 
advocates, would also allow for a person to have on them a 60-day 
supply - thousands of joints - to claim as "legal medicine."

This says nothing about the fact that all of this would violate 
federal law and invite lawsuits, Drug Enforcement Administration 
raids, and Food and Drug Administration action against the state.

Meanwhile, business owners would have to grapple with a stoned 
workforce claiming "medical necessity."

If we should learn anything from other states, it is that medical 
marijuana is a big fat headache that serves no one but people who 
just want to get high.

Kevin A. Sabet

Cambridge
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