Pubdate: Thu, 03 Jan 2013 Source: Boston Herald (MA) Copyright: 2013 The Boston Herald, Inc Contact: http://news.bostonherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/53 Note: Prints only very short LTEs. DUMB IDEA NO. 1 . . . The voter-approved "medical" marijuana law now in effect is surely going to be the gift that keeps on giving. A number of communities have already rushed to ban dispensaries from setting up shop and a lot of folks are skeptical that the state Department of Public Health, which failed abysmally to regulate compounding pharmacies (a failure that claimed the lives of 39 people so far) and its own drug testing lab (putting several hundred criminals back on the street) might not be able to handle the regulation of pot shops. Gee, ya think? One thing we already know is that a lot of people will be making a lot of money peddling pot - among them Dr. Bruce Bedrick, CEO of MedBox Inc. which provides "consulting services and dispensing systems" for the weed, according to The Associated Press, and recently opened a Natick office. The MedBox "system" looks rather like a vending machine, but one only accessible to dispensary employees, he assures, so it won't be next to the Cheez-Its and Snickers machine - at least for now. The new law provides for 35 pot shops throughout the state, but Bedrick insists, "I would expect hundreds of people to apply for the (dispensary) licenses ultimately." Oh, happy day! - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D