Pubdate: Thu, 12 Jun 2014
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2014 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
Authors: Kay Lazar and Shelley Murphy

LAWMAKERS SLAM DEA FOR TARGETING MASS. DOCTORS

By Kay Lazar and Shelley Murphy, Boston Globe Staff, June 11, 2014

The US Drug Enforcement Administration's push to get Massachusetts 
doctors out of the medical marijuana business drew the ire of members 
of Congress Wednesday, with one California lawmaker accusing the 
agency of creating an "atmosphere of fear" among physicians.

US Representative Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican, was 
commenting on the agency's ultimatum to Massachusetts physicians to 
sever all ties to marijuana companies or relinquish their federal 
licenses to prescribe certain medications. He called the action 
short-sighted during a conference call with national news organizations.

"What they are doing, obviously, is not only suppressing doctors, but 
wasting resources," said Rohrabacher, who sponsored a measure 
approved by the House last month to restrict the DEA from using its 
funding to impede state medical marijuana laws. "If they want to 
fight crime, let's use those resources to hire police to come and do 
more patrols in neighborhoods where there is high crime."

US Representative Steve Cohen, a Tennessee Democrat who cosponsored 
Rohrabacher's amendment last month, chided the DEA during the call, 
calling the agency heavy-handed.

"It's intimidation," Cohen said. "We should encourage doctors to be 
involved with medical [marijuana] dispensaries . . . yet they are 
trying to run people off."

The DEA is targeting doctors who are listed as part of the management 
or board of directors of proposed marijuana dispensaries. These 
doctors, under state rules, would not be allowed to recommend 
marijuana for their patients.

At least seven Massachusetts physicians have said they recently 
received the DEA ultimatum, in an action that underscores tension 
between federal and state marijuana laws, the Globe reported last 
week. Federal law prohibits any use of marijuana, while Massachusetts 
is one of 22 states that allow medicinal use of the drug.

The DEA notified state health officials before it began contacting 
doctors last month. In early May, officials from the DEA met with 
regulators from the Department of Public Health about a variety of 
topics related to drug-diversion prevention and informed the state of 
its plan to visit doctors affiliated with proposed marijuana 
dispensaries, said a state official who was briefed on the meeting 
but does not have authority to speak publicly.

The federal officials said a doctor's involvement with a marijuana 
dispensary might affect the doctor's DEA license to prescribe or 
administer narcotics and other controlled substances, the state official said.

State regulators did not notify dispensary applicants of the 
impending federal action, but addressed any questions applicants may 
have raised about the issue, the state official said.

State regulators are conducting extensive background checks on 
applicants after problems surfaced earlier this year, including 
misrepresentations and conflicts of interest involving several of the 
companies.

The DEA has declined repeated Globe requests for an interview about 
its actions in Massachusetts.

"It is not unusual for the Drug Enforcement Administration to contact 
DEA registrants," the agency said in a brief statement released last 
week. "It would not be appropriate to comment on specific 
interactions with registrants or any ongoing investigations."

The agency directed further questions to the US Department of 
Justice, which declined comment. Last August, the Justice Department 
issued a memo to federal prosecutors intended to clarify the agency's 
position on marijuana enforcement, a directive that seemed to suggest 
it would step back from interfering with the growing number of state 
medical marijuana laws. But questions remain about the conflict 
between state and federal marijuana laws.

Rohrabacher's comments Wednesday came in a conference call that 
highlighted struggles by researchers to obtain federally approved 
marijuana from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for medical 
studies, as described in a new report by the Multidisciplinary 
Association for Psychedelic Studies and the Drug Policy Alliance.

All but two of the nine members of the Massachusetts House delegation 
voted in favor of the Rohrabacher measure to prohibit federal 
interference with state medical marijuana laws. Representatives 
William Keating and Joseph Kennedy, both former prosecutors, opposed 
the measure.

"Our laws require federal agencies to play an active role in the 
regulation of controlled substances; no one drug should be an 
exception," Kennedy said Wednesday in a statement. "That being said, 
when it comes to conflicting policies around marijuana, federal 
authorities need to provide clarity and transparency in their 
enforcement approach, so the rules of the road are clear."

Representative Michael Capuano said he supported the Rohrabacher 
initiative because he does not expect the DEA to stop its actions 
without a "clear directive" from Congress.

"If it turns out the DEA is only taking these actions in 
Massachusetts, that would trouble me greatly," he said.

The measure has yet to be voted on in the Senate, but Senator Edward 
J. Markey said that he also is troubled by the reported DEA actions.

"The federal government should work with Massachusetts state 
officials and respect the will of the people of the Commonwealth," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom