Pubdate: Sun, 12 Aug 2012 Source: Boston Globe (MA) Copyright: 2012 Globe Newspaper Company Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340 Website: http://bostonglobe.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52 Author: Kevin A. Sabet MASS. HEADING DOWN SLIPPERY SLOPE WITH PROPOSED LAW Unfortunately, Jenifer B. McKim mixes up apples and oranges in her account of Maine's medical marijuana industry and how it compares to Massachusetts' proposed law ("Maine a case study in medical marijuana," Page A1, Aug. 5). Massachusetts voters will be deciding on whether to license 35 marijuana storefronts that would in turn sell marijuana to virtually anyone with a recommendation for almost any medical reason. The proposed Massachusetts law, funded by drug legalization advocates, would also allow for a person to have on them a 60-day supply - thousands of joints - to claim as "legal medicine." This says nothing about the fact that all of this would violate federal law and invite lawsuits, Drug Enforcement Administration raids, and Food and Drug Administration action against the state. Meanwhile, business owners would have to grapple with a stoned workforce claiming "medical necessity." If we should learn anything from other states, it is that medical marijuana is a big fat headache that serves no one but people who just want to get high. Kevin A. Sabet Cambridge - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom