Pubdate: Sat, 13 Oct 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: Lawrence Harmon

REEFER MADNESS

Noncompliance is the term used in medical circles to describe the 
state of incautious patients who ignore medical advice even at the 
risk of serious consequences. The same label should apply to the 
almost 70 percent of Massachusetts voters who, according to a recent 
Globe poll, support the legalization of marijuana for medical use.

The Massachusetts Medical Society opposes the medical use of 
marijuana, or Question 3 as it appears on the November ballot. The 
organization representing more than 24,000 physicians and medical 
students warns that pot hasn't been subjected to the "rigorous, 
scientific testing of other drugs approved by the Food and Drug 
Administration" and that claims for its effectiveness are not 
scientifically proven. Those seeking a second opinion should consult 
the medical societies representing specialists who treat patients 
with cancer, glaucoma, and multiple sclerosis - diseases often 
associated with medical marijuana treatment. They think that the 
effort to bring medical marijuana to Massachusetts is bogus, too.

Question 3's proponents speak glowingly of pot's ability to reduce 
nausea, relax muscles, and kill pain, especially pain that results 
from injuries to the nervous system. If that is indeed the case, it 
argues for rapid research into the medicinal compounds of marijuana, 
safe delivery systems, and FDA approval. Instead, Question 3 backers 
under the banner of the Committee for Compassionate Medicine are 
pushing for the creation of up to 35 marijuana dispensaries across 
the state in 2013.

Police officers in Massachusetts aren't hounding sick people who look 
to marijuana for relief, nor should they. Given that, voters might 
want to think twice before they open the door to pot marts in their 
communities.

Specifically, the law would eliminate state criminal and civil 
penalties for the medical use of marijuana by patients diagnosed with 
debilitating medical conditions. Patients would require written 
certification from a physician to purchase and possess a 60-day 
supply of the drug. Those who are unable to travel to a dispensary 
could receive authorization from the state Department of Public 
Health to grow their own weed.

The ballot initiative's backers have made responsible efforts to 
avoid some of the problems associated with medical marijuana 
dispensaries in other states. These include background checks for 
employees, a statewide patient registry system, and attempts to 
ensure adequate documentation by a qualifying patient's physician. 
The proposed law, however, still suffers from the kind of vague 
definitions that turned medical marijuana clinics in California, 
Colorado, Oregon, and other states into havens for stoners claiming 
to suffer from headaches, exhaustion, and muscle spasms. In Oregon, 
for example, 10 doctors wrote nearly half the recommendations for the 
nearly 50,000 registered users, according to Kevin Sabet, president 
of the Policy Solutions Lab in Cambridge.

Paging Dr. Feelgood. Paging Dr. Summeroff.

In 2008, Massachusetts voted to replace the criminal penalties for 
possession of one ounce of marijuana with a civil penalty of $100. 
The current ballot initiative would, in essence, legalize possession 
of about 3 ounces, the amount a patient might normally be expected to 
use in 60 days. Actually, the precise amount of what constitutes a 
60-day supply would be determined by the state Department of Public 
Health. Yes, that's the same agency that was gazing into space while 
one of its forensic chemists recently mishandled thousands of drug 
samples in a state crime laboratory.

Question 3 looks and feels like a stalking horse for the legalization 
of marijuana. Nearly all of the funding for this ballot initiative 
comes courtesy of Peter Lewis, a billionaire philanthropist and harsh 
critic of the nation's drug laws. Lewis, the former CEO of 
Progressive Corp., credits pot with getting him over the pain of a 
partial amputation. Let's just say this isn't a grassroots movement.

Sober research studies, including a recent article in the Journal of 
the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, found that 
medical marijuana belonging to registered users is ending up in the 
hands of kids across the Denver metropolitan area. And not just once 
in a blue moon. Adolescent patients in a substance abuse treatment 
program reported using diverted medical marijuana a median of 50 
times. More and more, this initiative sounds like trouble.

A strong case can be made that marijuana should be reclassified by 
the US Drug Enforcement Agency to encourage more research into its 
medical properties. But that's not what this ballot initiative is all 
about. If marijuana truly relieves suffering in ways that other 
medicines cannot, then it belongs in pharmacies, not in sunny window 
sill planters or shady storefronts.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom