Pubdate: Fri, 12 Oct 2012
Source: Cape Cod Times (MA)
Copyright: 2012 Cape Cod Times
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/sbOHSik6
Website: http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/72
Author: George Brennan

CAPE COPS FEAR MEDICAL MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION

SANDWICH -- Town leaders were warned that a ballot question seeking to
legalize medical marijuana in the Bay State will have financial
implications for police and, ultimately, town budgets.

At a breakfast meeting of the Cape Cod Selectmen and Councilors'
Association on Friday at the Dan'l Webster Inn, several dozen
officials heard experts say the question is likely to pass and that,
when it does, it will strain the budgets of local police
departments.

"Now that 17 states have done it and only one state amended it, we've
got data, hard data, that shows exactly why this public policy is
going to be a disaster," Sandwich Selectman Linell Grundman, president
of the association, said.

Leaders heard from a panel that included state Rep. Randy Hunt,
R-Sandwich, who serves on the Joint Committee for Mental Health and
Substance Abuse; Sandwich Police Chief Peter Wack; and Deputy Police
Chief John Carmichael from Walpole.

Question 3 would authorize 35 dispensaries across the state, at least
one in each county, and doctors would recommend patients for medical
marijuana use, though no prescriptions would be written, Hunt said.

"We're going to be challenged with having one of these dispensaries in
Barnstable County, so we'll have to figure out how it's going to
work," Hunt said.

Those living more than 25 miles from a dispensing site would be
allowed to grow marijuana in their homes, so long as they keep it in a
locked room, he said.

"That's going to give police departments, county sheriffs and all just
fits trying to deal with that," Hunt said. "There will be a cost to
that," which won't likely be covered by fees or taxes paid by the
distribution centers.

Medical marijuana is touted for use by cancer patients, people
suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease or AIDS, Carmichael said, but
there is nothing to stop doctors from recommending it for people
complaining of migraines, depression or some other ailment.

"To me, we're duping the voters again," he said.

Wack told a story about a college student from Sandwich who was issued
a card for medical marijuana in another state. When his parent asked
how the student got it, the student said it was easy to obtain for any
college student from a certain doctor.

Along with making marijuana -- considered a "gateway drug" -- more
readily available, police are also worried that the dispensing
centers, the people authorized to use medical marijuana and the home
growers of medical marijuana could all potentially become targets of
crime, Wack said.

"This has the potential to take officers off the road," Wack said,
noting that it will take time and money to process evidence and
determine if people have a legitimate reason to have marijuana if
they're not carrying proper paperwork.

Carmichael added that medical marijuana from Maine, one of the states
that has legalized its use, has shown up in Walpole being sold illegally.

"To think this stuff isn't going to get out on the streets and into
the hands of our kids is ludicrous," he said.

Town leaders left their breakfast Friday with little hope that the
ballot question could be defeated.

Hunt and state Rep. Cleon Turner, D-Dennis, predicted it would be
approved in the Nov. 6 election.

Turner urged town officials to push for amendments to the ballot
initiative.

Specifically, the Legislature could restrict use to certain ailments
and penalize doctors who authorize it for things not covered on a list
of defined conditions, he said.

"What you need to do ... is kick your legislators in the butt and let
them know they need some gumption to make this work," Turner said. "I
think it's too late to stop it from passing."

Grundman said she hasn't given up on trying to defeat Question 3. "We
hope you're wrong," she said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt