Pubdate: Thu, 14 Feb 2013
Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
Copyright: 2013 Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Contact:  http://www.telegram.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/509
Author: Donna Boynton, Telegram & Gazette Staff

POT PANEL GETS ECLECTIC FEEDBACK

WORCESTER - Patients, medical professionals and purveyors of medical
marijuana from across the New England and the country filled the Saxe
Room at the Worcester Public Library Wednesday afternoon for the state
Department of Public Health's first "listening session" on its medical
marijuana regulations.

Officials from the DPH listened to people from across the region talk
about their concerns - personal, professional, economic and safety -
as the state crafts its medical marijuana regulations. Those who
crowded into the room represented a broad mix of opinions and
lifestyles from those in support of medical marijuana and those opposed.

The use of medical marijuana was approved by voters in the November
2012 election. The law went into effect Jan. 1, and as of that date a
doctor can prescribe medical marijuana for a patient, and with that
prescription, a patient can begin growing marijuana at home. The state
Department of Public Health has until May 1 to establish guidelines
for dispensaries, treatment centers and other regulations for medical
marijuana.

The law allows for 35 dispensaries across the state with at least one
per county.

The listening sessions do not take the place of a public hearing on
the regulations; rather they are to receive input from the public on
issues such as patient eligibility, physician training, dispensary
operations and security, the definition of a 60-day supply, the use of
medical marijuana in food and hardship cultivations.

"We are committed to developing a program that ensures access to those
people who need medical marijuana, but we also need to make sure that
we have regulations that promote the health and well-being of all
those in the commonwealth that are not part of the program," said
Laura Smith, interim director of the state DPH. "We need something
that ensures appropriate access and balances our responsibility to
protect and promote the health and well-being of all residents through
a safe and secure program."

Those interested in speaking were asked to sign in and were then
called to a table in groups of three to offer their testimony, which
was kept at a strict three-minute limit. They came as a trio of city
officials, as a married couple to speak of the relief medical
marijuana provides them and the relief they have been able to help
others achieve; they came in wheelchairs and they came with canes;
they came as cancer survivors and sufferers of rare diseases; they
came as doctors, nurses and legal marijuana providers. Some came
wearing their opinions on their sleeve - some with shirts bearing a
marijuana leaf or a hat with a marijuana logo - others sat, surrounded
by the smell of stale marijuana smoke.

Dr. Michael P. Hirsh, the city of Worcester's acting health
commissioner and president of the Worcester District Medical Society,
said the medical community is concerned that marijuana has no standard
medical dosing or has gone through testing other recognized drugs go
through. He said marijuana is not a drug that can easily be prescribed
and that its efficacy hasn't been medically proven.

For people like Jerry Smith, Lee Smith, Ellen Lenox Smith (none
related) and Eliza Quill, the ability to resume their lives is all the
proof they need.

Jerry Smith, 43, of Fall River, was left paralyzed from the waist down
following an automobile accident in 2008. He is in a wheelchair and
was on 20 medications daily.

"The medications left me lethargic, bed-bound and I had no quality of
life," Jerry Smith said. "This has given me my life back. It has given
me the opportunity to be a dad again."

Patient advocates also asked the DPH to make sure privacy measures
were in place to protect patients, and others urged the use of medical
marijuana and its dosage be a decision made between patient and doctor.

Property owners spoke of the impact medical marijuana would have on
designated no-smoking rental properties.

Worcester City Councilor Konstantina B. Lukes urged the DPH to proceed
with caution. She said she was concerned with the impact dispensaries
will have on local communities, such as Worcester, and reminded the
DPH that its regulations will be competing with an already established
industry.

Derek Brindisi, director of public health in Worcester, asked the DPH
to craft regulations give local municipalities the ability to create
strict local regulations and bylaws. In addition, he said he had
serious concerns about the how marijuana food products will be regulated.

Among the speakers from the business of medical marijuana was Bruce
Bedrick, CEO of Medbox, the nation's first biometric medical marijuana
dispensing machine.

The Medbox Inc. system is an armored, automated and biometrically
controlled dispensing and storage system for medicine and merchandise.
Medbox is used by Kind Clinics LLC, a medical marijuana dispensary
support company that provides behind the counter machines and
licensing services for cannabis-based health products.

Mr. Bedrick's brief comments were met with applause as he told state
officials the adoption of the medical marijuana law was a huge step in
state's rights and patients' rights. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D