Pubdate: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 Source: Boston Herald (MA) Copyright: 2013 The Boston Herald, Inc Contact: http://news.bostonherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/53 Author: Christine McConville Page: 8 HEALTH COMMISSION SEEKS EXTRA RULES FOR HUB POT DISPENSARIES Selling medical marijuana in the Hub may mean more permits, more inspections and pot deliveries to your door. The Boston Public Health Commission is pushing for more power to oversee the pot law just now rolling out. "It's an added layer of security," Boston Public Health Commission Executive Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said about the commission's desire to add extra rules to the state-regulated industry. "In a city of this size, the local authorities want to be sure they can inspect the dispensaries too, because the state inspectors have to cover the entire state." The commission also wants Boston dispensaries to provide in-home delivery to patients who are simply too sick to travel. "We are a fairly large geographic area," Ferrer said. The Boston Board of Health will be asked to consider additional, city specific stipulations when board members meet next month, Ferrer said. Medicinal pot could be on sale in Massachusetts by early 2014, state officials say. In November 2012, Bay State voters voted to allow qualified sick people to lawfully consume the federally banned substance. The state's public health officials crafted the new industry's rules this spring. Now, they're vetting 181 applications from potential dispensary owners. Ferrer said Boston wants the added measures "to make certain that dispensaries are appropriately managed and adhere to local and state regulations." Boston has already banned dispensaries from residential areas, and state regulations prohibit them from being too close to schools, day care centers and playgrounds. The Boston-specific proposal would require plenty of signs in and around the dispensaries, Ferrer said, so patients and neighbors will know who to call with complaints. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt