Pubdate: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 Source: Boston Herald (MA) Copyright: 2014 The Boston Herald, Inc Contact: http://news.bostonherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/53 Page: 16 POT SYSTEM DOPED UP Scoring 65 on a test is usually the equivalent of a D-minus - if not an F. That's how well the Patrick administration handled the first big test of the state's new "medical" marijuana system, and yet the official in charge is simply "delighted" with the results. Time for a reality check at the Department of Public Health. In the administration's latest Friday afternoon bad news dump, DPH announced last week that 11 applicants hoping to serve as registered marijuana dispensaries will advance to the next phase of the selection process. That leaves nine applicants in the reject pile - but only after they had received "provisional certification" in January. (Getting 11 out of 20 right counts for the dismal grade in management.) DPH is, of course, trying to whitewash the first, failed portion of the application process. That is referred to as the "verification" process, but of course some of the troubling facts were only "verified" after outlets other than DPH - including the Herald - dug up the flaws in the original applications. Those flaws included the shady ties of some dispensary officials, the shady corporate structures set up to evade the law's nonprofit requirement and other shady practices one might expect from a crowd interested in state-sanctioned drug dealing. Sensing a (shady) pattern here? The 11 applicants chosen to advance were judged by a DPH contractor to have been truthful in their applications - a fairly low bar, certainly, but by comparison to those who lied, including about having the support of certain public officials, a point in their favor. The 11 also passed "enhanced" background checks, performed by an outside contractor, a process that of course should have happened before the original, "provisional" certification was announced. In the end the administration's clear mismanagement - just its latest - - has not only left the commonwealth exposed (lawsuits are already pending with more sure to come) and the system far behind where it was supposed to be. It has compromised public confidence and that will be difficult to restore. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt