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