"Mass. officials wary of medical marijuana; Say referendum could bring more crime and addiction" by Peter Schworm | Globe Staff, October 07, 2012
With Election Day just a month away, polls show strong public support in Massachusetts for a referendum that would legalize marijuana for medical use, joining 17 other states.
But prosecutors and police are sounding alarms about the initiative, saying it is ripe for exploitation and would lead to more drug addiction and crime.
While supporters say the law would strictly regulate who can dispense marijuana to people with painful medical conditions, law enforcement officials fear the system would be manipulated by drug dealers who would use nonprofit treatment centers as fronts for illicit operations.
Yeah, never you mind about the fraud over at the drug labs. It just goes to show you tyranny can also come with a D after their names.
“To think these establishments will not be fronts for illegal distribution and money-laundering, and reduce the street market price of marijuana, would be illogical,” said John Carmichael Jr., deputy police chief in Walpole, where police say they seized a pound of medical marijuana being sold illegally in April. “We’ll be creating a drug market, literally on the street.”
I wonder how many false front NOC shops the CIA will set up.
Supporters say law enforcement’s concerns are greatly exaggerated, and that the law would include enough safeguards to deter abuse. Access to the drug, they say, would bring relief to thousands of patients in chronic pain and provide an alternative to prescription painkillers.
And that i$ the real rub right there.
But authorities point to other states that have approved the medical use of cannabis, such as California and Oregon, as cautionary tales. Storefront marijuana shops in Los Angeles have drawn frequent complaints and a crackdown from federal drug agents, and city police say some shops have been taken over by illegal drug dealers.
Otherwise known as under CIA or government cover.
Also see: Obama Administration Goes to Pot
It sure has. Obama looked like he smoked some before his debate.
Such problems give rise to doubts that the government can effectively regulate the sale and production of medical marijuana....
Then why should we trust them to regulate anything? Can't have it both ways -- unless YOU GUYS are SMOKING SOMETHING!!
“This isn’t just a referendum on medical marijuana,” said Joseph Early Jr., the district attorney in Worcester County and president of the state’s district attorneys association. “It’s more than that. The experience in other states shows this doesn’t work, and we have to pay attention.”
Statewide coalitions of prosectors and police chiefs oppose the measure, known as Question 3, as does the Massachusetts Medical Society, which says there is “insufficient scientific information” about the safety of medicinal marijuana.
Related: Massachusetts Justice Rejects Medical Marijuana
They are even paying off the doctors.
Law enforcement officials, however, are less concerned with the medicinal merits than the fear that dispensaries would skirt regulations and become easy targets for criminal activity.
In Oregon, for example, illegal, for-profit distribution of medical marijuana has become rampant, according to a recent report by The Oregonian newspaper. Federal authorities have identified more than a dozen large-scale operations sending medical marijuana to a number of other states, the newspaper reported.
The trafficking of medicinal marijuana has also made its way to Massachusetts. In Walpole, police arresting three people in a drug bust uncovered, among other drugs, a pound of marijuana they believed was intended for medical use in Maine, where the prescribing of medical marijuana has been legal since 1999.
But supporters say the Massachusetts measure was specifically crafted to avoid the problems other states have encountered, and tout it as the country’s safest medical marijuana law....
Public opinion surveys suggest that many agree. A Suffolk University poll of likely voters taken last month found that 59 percent supported the proposed law, while 35 percent were opposed. A recent Boston Globe poll found that nearly 70 percent of voters backed the measure.
Law enforcement officials say they hope voters will take a close look at the law, and they warn of the unintended consequences of approving complex legislation through a ballot initiative.
As opposed to the legislature meeting behind closed doors and in secret? No one seems to concerned about the unintended consequences of corruption and loss of tax loot then.
“We’ve seen more violence around marijuana than a lot of other drugs,” said Steven Mazzie, chief of police in Everett. “You put more marijuana on the streets, you’re going to have more violence.”
I wrote f*** off in my paper; however, in forming my commentary here I realize the chief has jumped the shark.
“This decision would establish an entire separate pharmaceutical infrastructure,” said Heidi Heilman, president of the Massachusetts Prevention Alliance, an advocacy group that opposes the measure. “It’s a system that is easily exploited. It would allow unscrupulous individuals to make a profit.”
Oh, so it would be like basing an economy on a private central banking scheme?
Law enforcement officials say the medical marijuana law represents a backdoor attempt to legalize the drug entirely, and they worry that it sends a dangerous message to teenagers that marijuana is acceptable.
Yup, when all else fails drag out the children. No compunction about sending them off to faraway lands to wage wars based on lies though. No problem with that message and all the other agenda-pushing garbage that is shoved down their throats to manipulate young minds.
“It completely undercuts the prevention message,” said Robert Champagne, chief of the Peabody Police Department. “And it will bring a predictable host of social problems. From the view of many people, this is not about compassionate medicine.”
Champagne said the centers will allow drug dealers to “hide in plain sight.”
I'll let you in on a little secret: they already do
“I’m not naive enough to believe everyone is going to play fair here,” he said. “This is big business.”
Like Big Pharma and all the crap they fill our kids with is, but....
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"Agendas apparent in battle over legalizing marijuana" October 14, 2012
RE “OFFICIALS wary of medical marijuana” (Page A1, Oct. 7): Nationwide, among the leading lobbying groups against the legalization of marijuana are police and prison guard unions, private prison corporations, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and beer, wine, and liquor companies. Their self-interest is obvious.
Oh, someone else noticed that, too?
Low-level drug use should be treated as a public health issue, and not as a criminal matter.
Boston
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