Pubdate: Mon, 18 Mar 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.
Page: 16

PROCESS GOING TO POT

Attorney General Martha Coakley last week ruled that cities and towns 
can't ban marijuana dispensaries within their borders under the 
state's voter-approved medical marijuana law. The ruling doesn't come 
as a surprise from a legal standpoint - Coakley noted that such bans 
would, if adopted by all 351 cities and towns, prevent the 
"reasonable access" authorized in the new law -but it does highlight 
the need to introduce some sense into these breakneck proceedings.

And for the record, it is not too late to ensure that reasonable 
public protections are in place.

Of course the Legislature has so far blown its chance to delay the 
implementation of the law, ignoring Sen. John Keenan's legislation 
that proposed doing so.

But lawmakers could still act to adopt the sensible changes that 
Keenan (D-Quincy) had proposed, for example, requiring parental 
consent for minors seeking a marijuana "prescription," forbidding the 
home cultivation of pot, and requiring doctors to report 
recommendations for pot use to the state's prescription monitoring 
program. Those changes do nothing to violate the spirit of the law, 
but while lawmakers are busy arguing over procedural rules (see 
above) Keenan's bill sits in committee.

At a minimum, the Public Health Council, which will release draft 
regulations on March 29, must incorporate recommendations from the 
Massachusetts Medical Society which wants those doctors who parachute 
into the Bay State to be part of this new "industry" to be 
board-licensed, and to undergo substance abuse training.

Folks on Beacon Hill aren't usually shy about trying to legislate 
public health. So when there is a vital public health interest at 
stake as it is here, why are so many of them missing in action?
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom