Pubdate: Wed, 12 Sep 2012 Source: Needham Times (MA) Copyright: 2012 Needham Times Contact: http://www2.townonline.com/needham/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3605 Author: Wei-Huan Chen NEEDHAM HEALTH OFFICIALS OPPOSE MEDICAL MARIJUANA STATE BALLOT QUESTION The Needham Board of Health criticized the Nov. 6 state ballot question to legalize the use of medical marijuana in Massachusetts, calling the proposed bill impractical, too open-ended and possibly harmful to the community's health and safety. At a Sept. 11 Board of Selectmen meeting, Board of Health member Jane Fogg said her commmittee agreed with the Massachusetts Medical Society that the ruling needs to be further researched. "We're concerned about the practicality of this law and for this reason we cannot support it," she said. "This is simply a card giving you a 60-day supply [of marijuana], which isn't defined. There's no way to see the results." If the question passes at this year's election ballot, doctors would be able to give patients certification for the medical use of marijuana for the treatment of specific, debilitating medical conditions such as cancer, ALS or Parkinson's disease, although Fogg said the bill was unclear about which conditions qualified. Patients can then apply for a registration card that allows for 60 days' worth of marijuana. The initiative would allow up to 35 marijuana dispensaries in the state. At least one, but no more than five centers would be allowed in each county. The dispensaries would be not-for-profit and established by the state health department. Patients who could not access a treatment center because of "financial hardship, physical inability to access reasonable transportation or distance," according to the petition, could register to grow their own plants in their homes. If the question passes on Nov 6., the bill would protect patients, doctors, dispensary employees and all other people involved ith medical marijuana from criminal and civil prosecution from the state. "The issue could land in our backyard," said Board of Health vice chairperson Ed Cosgrove. Since up to five dispensaries could be in Norfolk County, he said, and because of Needham's proximity to Route 128, "this could very well wind up in Needham." Health officials presented to the Board of Selectmen a packet of scientific and statistical information backing its claims regarding the dangers of smoking and the possibility that the dispensaries would increase marijuana access to the general public. The final pages of the packet included photos of dispensaries in California, depicted open cafe environments with marijuana plants displayed in glass jars, vending machines and even as a storefront neon light. The photos, Cosgrove admitted, were a "worst case scenario." The town health department also included suggestions for beefing up local bylaws that deal with the enforcement of the use of controlled substances such as marijuana. That packet can be found at www.needhamma.gov/archives/99/BOS%20Packet%209.11.2012.pdf Spearheaded by the Committee for Compassionate Medicine, the ballot needed more than 11,000 signatures to Secretary of State William Galvin's office by July 3 to secure a place on the ballot. The language of the petition, sent to the State Attorney General's office in November 2011 as "An Initiative Petition for a Law for the Humanitarian Medical Use of Marijuana," can be found online at www.mass.gov/ago/docs/government/2011-petitions/11-11.pdf The marijuana ballot question will appear alongside a question asking voters to legalize physician assisted suicide, termed the "Death with Dignity" law, and a question asking whether to give independent repair shops access to data now closely guarded by carmakers, termed the "Right to Repair" law. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom