Pubdate: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 Source: Boston Herald (MA) Copyright: 2014 The Boston Herald, Inc Contact: http://news.bostonherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/53 Note: Prints only very short LTEs. WEED IN THE 'HOOD And the winners are . . . The Department of Public Health handed out 20 licenses for so-called "medical" marijuana shops yesterday, including one in the heart of toney Back Bay. Won't that be swell? Boston with its obvious pentup demand for the product got two of the licenses, one of which is slated for Boylston Street between Arlington and Berkeley. Now all those students from all those downtown colleges will be able to get quick relief from the stress of final exams. And the well-located shop will be just a subway ride away for the suffering populations of Boston University and Boston College. Yes, the voters of Massachusetts fell for this scam and now it's communities like Boston and Cambridge, Newton, Lowell, Worcester and - - big surprise - Northampton that will be left to deal with its repercussions. And unlike the casino gaming law, which gives communities veto power, the law allowing the creation of as many as 35 pot shops around the state has no such provision. So some folks, like former U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt whose Medical Marijuana of Massachusetts outfit won licenses for Mashpee, Taunton and Plymouth, will make out quite nicely financially for dispensing a product that the president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, Ronald Dunlap, insists "poses health risks of toxins and cognitive impairment." "Despite voter approval, despite the hard and good work of the DPH in developing regulations and overseeing the process of licensing, the Massachusetts model does not contain any provisions for dosage, administering the drug, or other basic elements that would be contained in a prescription for another medication that has gone through rigorous clinical trials," Dunlap said in a statement issued yesterday. Well, not to worry, Doc, surely it won't be long until Massachusetts drops the "medical" part of this charade and goes the way of Colorado and Washington and makes selling weed just another business - but one with still undetermined long-term consequences. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom