Pubdate: Thu, 09 May 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.
Author: Gary J. Remal

MEDICAL POT FOES, OPPONENTS AGREE: NEW RULES FLAWED

Rules governing the sale of medical marijuana in the Bay State 
adopted yesterday by the state's Public Health Council left 
proponents wishing for more flexibility and opponents worried that 
the new regulations, effective May 24, may invite abuse.

Heidi Heilman of the Massachusetts Prevention Alliance said the law 
passed by voters last November was fatally flawed in ways council 
regulations could not repair.

"We've essentially legalized marijuana under the guise of medicine, 
without any of the regulation."

For instance, Heilman said, the 10-ounce limit would not prevent 
concentrated forms with hundreds of thousands of times more impact.

"It has to do with big marijuana and how they wrote the law," Heilman 
said. "The Department of Public Health tried their best, but they 
can't rewrite the statute."

The council, an advisory body of the Department of Public Health, had 
the final say on the rules and approved them yesterday.

Matthew J. Allen, director of the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy 
Alliance, praised council members for listening to people who need 
marijuana therapy.

"These regulations demonstrate a dedication to ensuring safe access 
for patients while including strict controls to prevent misuse of the 
system," Allen said.

The new rules let municipalities impose fees and zoning limits on any 
of the 35 nonprofit dispensaries - no more than five in each county - 
that are opened within their borders.

Bill Downing of the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, which 
advocates legalization of marijuana, said the rules over-regulate 
medical marijuana.

"It's pretty clear to any objective observer that these regulations 
are very stringent, in that they require all kinds of extra 
providers' checks in order to get recommendations to patients," Downing said.

But Dr. James B. Broadhurst, who led the Massachusetts Medical 
Society's inquiry into the issue, said the panel failed to adopt the 
stricter definition of the doctor-patient relationship recommended by 
the Board of Registration in Medicine.

"I want the regulations to target the people presented as the face of 
the ballot initiative, those folks the voters said yes to," 
Broadhurst said. "I don't think the voters want to arbitrarily 
increase the supply of marijuana and the risk."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom