Pubdate: Tue, 23 Oct 2012
Source: Gloucester Daily Times (MA)
Copyright: 2012 Eagle Tribune Publishing Company
Website: http://www.gloucestertimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/169
Author: Andy Metzger

MED MARIJUANA BALLOT DEBATE HEATS UP

BOSTON - Opponents of a ballot initiative to legalize medical
marijuana claimed Monday that proponents ultimately hope to legalize
the drug for all uses, but proponents accused them of using "hysteria
and fear" to keep people from necessary medicine.

The two sides met in front of the State House steps on a sunny Monday
afternoon, where doctors and lawmakers on each side made their case,
backed by those who said they suffered through the lack of proper pain
relief, on one side, and those who had experienced the perils of drug
addiction, on the other.

"There is no restriction whatsoever on these marijuana treatment
centers, where they ought to go," said Sen. John Keenan, D-Quincy,
speaking from the microphone and backed by a phalanx of recovering
drug addicts. He described the proposed legislation as "vague,
ambiguous and open to exploitation."

Proponents of Question 3- which appears on ballots across the state -
waited until the opponents' event was over to make their case for
legalizing and regulating marijuana for medicinal use. They pointed
out the proposed legislation would create a felony for anyone who
tries to fraudulently use it, and said the state Department of Public
Health would regulate where treatment centers can locate and how long
a treatment card can be used by a patient.

"There's no property of medical marijuana that causes people to die,"
said Dr. Karen Munkacy, of Newton, who said medical marijuana is a
"gateway backwards," leading people off of addictive and harmful
painkillers.

Opponents of the ballot question said that it would contribute to a
trend started by a successful 2008 ballot law, which decriminalized
possession of less than one ounce of marijuana. They said Question 3
would send a confusing message to children and would make marijuana
more available for abuse.

"I have family members that have passed away because of the use and
abuse of drugs, and people start with marijuana," said Rep. Martin
Walsh, D-Dorchester. "People start by smoking that innocent joint."

After the event, in a sidewalk debate with Munkacy and Rep. Frank
Smizik, D-Brookline, that eventually involved Keenan, Walsh said, "I'm
concerned about the kids behind me up on the stairs," gesturing to
young people in recovery who attended the rally against the ballot
question.

Walsh said he assumed 70 percent of the recovering addicts there
"started their addiction by smoking weed, smoking marijuana."

"They didn't get it from a physician," Smizik responded in defense of
the ballot question. Smizik, who said he does not support full
legalization of the drug, has filed medical marijuana bills several
times over his career. Keenan stated that lax regulation could result
in marijuana being diverted from legal medical use and that doctors
may abuse the system even if it means a potential jail term or loss of
license.

The issue has been raised before on Beacon Hill.

Karen Hawkes, a retired State Police officer from Rowley who started
vaporizing marijuana after a stroke debilitated her, said she had
testified at the State House, as have other proponents.

Frustrated by the lack of action in the Legislature on their proposal,
proponents this year circumvented Beacon Hill by gathering enough
signatures to place the medical marijuana question on the ballot.

Gov. Deval Patrick has said he doesn't "have a lot of enthusiasm" for
the medical marijuana bill, a sentiment that was echoed by House
Speaker Robert DeLeo in a brief interview on Monday.

"I really have problems with it. I'll tell you the reason why, " said
DeLeo, saying he is especially concerned about the lack of
"protections" in the proposal.

"This past summer, I attended some seven wakes for people in my
district with drug overdoses - that's just in Revere and Winthrop,
alone," DeLeo said,

Asked about the Legislature's attitude to the legislation when it was
under consideration, DeLeo said, "There was an appetite, I think, with
some members, but I think an overwhelming part of the body  the House
anyways - I don't think they saw this as a subject matter there was an
interest in delving into."

Voters, however, have recently shown more interest in revising the
state's policy toward marijuana. In 2008, voters decriminalized
possession of less than an ounce of marijuana by an almost two-to-one
ratio and Question 3 has polled well this year.

Jerome Smith, a Fall River man who was left paralyzed from the waist
down by an auto accident, said pain cures left him dazed and lethargic
until he started treating his symptoms with marijuana, which he eats.

"It's helped me get off many prescription medications," Smith told the
News Service. "It gave me the ambition to get out and see things again."

But Question 3 opponent Dr. James Broadhurst told the News Service the
proposed legislation could be improved if the doctors allowed to
prescribe it were limited to certain specialists  neurologists,
oncologists and pain specialists  and if there was only one supplier.
Broadhurst questioned DPH's ability to oversee a new medical marijuana
system with as many as 35 treatment centers.

"They have a hard enough time inspecting compounding centers,"
Broadhurst told the News Service.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt