Pubdate: Mon, 09 Jun 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. Page: 16 CONGRESS GOES TO POT The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency is doing precisely what we would expect an agency in charge of combating illegal drug use to do. They're warning Massachusetts physicians that they can engage in lucrative consulting deals or employment contracts with state marijuana dispensaries - or they can hold a license to prescribe narcotics, which is issued by the DEA. But since marijuana remains illegal under federal law, they simply can't do both. Word that DEA agents are having such "conversations" with some of the state's aspiring pot docs is giving some folks the vapors - mainly those pushing the notion that marijuana is a cure-all for every ailment, or just a bang-up business opportunity. But there is no requirement under state law that medical marijuana dispensaries have a doctor on the payroll, and so their participation is very much a choice. And far more alarming than the DEA warning docs about relevant passages of federal law is the possibility that the agency may soon be prevented by Congress from doing so. The U.S. House, in a rare if misguided show of bipartisanship, voted 219-189 for a budget amendment that would prevent the Justice Department from interfering with state laws that allow so-called "medical" marijuana use. Only two members of this commonwealth's congressional delegation, Reps. William Keating (D-Bourne) and Joseph Kennedy III (D-Brookline) - both former prosecutors - voted against the measure. The amendment is being billed as a benevolent act to protect those poor souls whose extreme medical conditions can only be treated with a toke or two. At least Keating and Kennedy apparently recognize the foolishness in tying the hands of federal law enforcement authorities who have a duty to uphold the nation's drug laws. And of course Bay Staters have had a front-row seat to the kind of shady operations and sketchy characters that are driving this burgeoning industry. The idea that the DEA would be forbidden from acting in cases of clear violation of federal law is simply ludicrous. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom