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).
###
Drugs
ReplyDeleteBy: Hope
All they wanted was a little fun
Those bootleggers of old.
So what, if they carried a gun
And got a little bold.
Eventually they won their war
And liquor was legalized.
Then thugs like Al Capone and more
Were practically canonized!
Now after eighty years or more
Another war's declared.
The procedure's repeated just as before
But this time no one's spared.
Their determination to win this time is a flaw
Of the human condition.
But all it proves to those in awe
Is: WE LEARNED NOTHING FROM PROHIBITION!
The only regulation Massachusetts needs is for the state to ensure they have cannabis that is mold, pesticide and bug free. Anyone who can open a dispensary and sell a safe product should be able to do so with a reasonable licensing fee of $50 or so. No dispensary limits, no caregiver limits, nothing else. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAdam L.