Pubdate: Wed, 12 Sep 2012
Source: Boston Herald (MA)
Copyright: 2012 The Boston Herald, Inc
Contact:  http://news.bostonherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/53
Note: Prints only very short LTEs.
Authors: Erin Smith And Christine Mcconville

REPORT: MEDICAL MARIJUANA A BUDDING PROBLEM

Officials: Bay State in for Trouble

With Massachusetts voters poised to legalize medical marijuana, a 
chilling new report on Colorado's similar law shows the Rocky 
Mountain State has become a poorly regulated mecca for potheads and 
dealers - suggesting the Bay State may be on track to become New 
England's own hemp haven.

"The whole issue is a mess. We are seeing medical marijuana diverted 
to kids and diverted out of state," said Tom Gorman, director of 
Rocky Mountain High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, an anti-drug 
program run by regional law enforcement. "It's supposed to be for the 
sick and dying, but you just can't regulate it."

Colorado - which in 2010 began licensing dispensaries, as the Bay 
State would under the proposed ballot question - is now a "source 
state" for black market sales of medical marijuana across the 
country, according to a report the agency released last month.

Gorman said Colorado's medical marijuana cardholders exploded from 
1,600 in 2009 to more than 130,000 in 2011 after the state set up 
regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries. There are at least 
400 marijuana businesses in Denver alone, according to the The 
National Voice for the Cannabis Industry.

The report noted:

A man busted using a single-engine airplane to fly 36 pounds of pot 
to the East Coast had a medical marijuana card and claimed to be a "caregiver."

A 19-year-old cardholder admitted he sold more than half of his 
purchase illegally on the street - much of it to juveniles. When cops 
told his supplier the suspect was buying enough to smoke three joints 
an hour for 24 hours a day, the dispensary owner shrugged it off, 
saying his customers need different amounts to control their pain.

A patient turned her medical marijuana over to her drug dealer boyfriend.

An undercover cop, pretending to be from Pennsylvania, bought 200 
pounds of pot from one dispensary.

A man told police he started selling medical marijuana on Craigslist 
because he was "just getting greedy."

A medical marijuana measure on the November ballot in Massachusetts, 
which would allow dispensaries, is likely to pass by as much as a 
2-to-1 margin, a recent poll found.

Critics slam the proposed Massachusetts law, noting it would allow 
approved users to carry a 60-day supply of pot but leaves the 
determination of how much that is to the Department of Public Health. 
If approved, the law would initially set up 35 pot dispensaries and 
amend state law to let people with debilitating medical conditions 
use marijuana for medicinal reasons.

"It has that catch-all provision, 'for any other medical conditions a 
doctor deems necessary,' and that's what opens us up to abuse and 
misuse," said Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. 
"Even the advocates acknowledge that this legislation needs work. 
That particular phrase is very broad, and it opens it up to a people 
who says, 'Oh, I have a sprained ankle, and medical marijuana might help.
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