FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 9, 2014
June 9, 2014
DEA
TARGETING PHYSICIANS IN MASSACHUSETTS
Doctors
Working with Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Told to Give Up Their Position Or
Give Up Their License
Less than two weeks after the House of
Representatives passed a measure that would defund Drug Enforcement Administration
raids on medical marijuana dispensaries, reports have begun to surface of the
DEA intimidating physicians trying to work with state-legal dispensaries in
Massachusetts. MassLive
and the Boston
Globe report that several physicians have been told that if they continue
to serve in an advisory capacity for medical marijuana dispensaries, they will
lose their DEA license to prescribe certain controlled substances. Already,
some doctors have been forced to resign their advisory positions with the
dispensaries, which Massachusetts voters agreed to allow in November 2012,
possibly delaying the opening of some dispensaries.
“I cannot think of a worse use of law enforcement
resources than to undermine a democratically enacted law by intimidating professionals
trying to ensure a program designed to help the sick operates as well as it
possibly can. This is a gross example of the confused, immoral logic of
prohibition gone awry, and frankly, it disgusts me,” said Major Neill Franklin
(Ret.), executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of
law enforcement officials opposed to the war on drugs.
“Medical marijuana dispensaries are not required to
have medical advisors and these actions are likely to have a chilling effect,”
Major Franklin added. “They’re not preventing the dispensaries from opening.
They’re merely preventing those who run them from doing all they can to ensure
they’re as safe and effective for patients as possible.”
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the
right of physicians to recommend medical marijuana to their patients but that
decision carries precedential value only in the states
under its jurisdiction. Advocates fear this tactic may spread to other places
trying to comply with state laws.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is a group of
law enforcement officials who, after fighting in the front lines of the war on
drugs, now advocate for its end.
For
interviews, please contact Darby Beck at darby.beck@leap.cc (415.823.5496).
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