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Medicinal marijuana, supported by nearly two-thirds of Massachusetts voters on Nov. 6, is getting a much cooler reception from the Norfolk County officials who will have to administer the new law.
Leaders of health and law enforcement departments from Norfolk towns expressed concern over increased drug use, abuse of the law and the establishment of marijuana dispensaries in their communities.
"It's a shame that it passed," said Norwood Police Chief William Brooks. "I haven't bumped into a police officer yet who thought the medical marijuana question was a good idea."
Despite the fact that Norwood residents voted in favor of the law 7,766 to 6,144, Brooks said he did not believe marijuana had medical properties or that legalizing it for medical use would benefit Massachusetts.
Norwood has struggled with a growing heroin and prescription abuse problem, but Brooks said other drugs were also on the rise.
"We've seen more marijuana use," Brooks said. "We see more marijuana in and around cars and our ability to deal with it is hampered by the change in its status."
In Westwood, Police Chief William Chase was concerned that the law gives certain individuals the right to grow their own marijuana.
Unlike drugs legalized at the federal level and distributed in pharmacies, marijuana will be available through as many as 35 state dispensaries, according to the law. Each county will have between one and five dispensaries, and qualifying patients can also apply for personal cultivating licenses if they are unable to visit a dispensary, either physically or financially.
Chase said he was sympathetic to patients suffering from cancer or other serious diseases and claim that marijuana helps ease their pain, but that a better way to move forward would have been through the federal government.
"The problem is who controls the quality of what's being sold," Chase said. "There are no safeguards and it could be laced with another drug."
Seventeen other states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medical use, but it remains against federal law. In Massachusetts, a patient must obtain a note from their physician and have been diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition. Examples provided in the law include cancer, glaucoma, HIV or AIDS, hepatitis C, Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, ALS and multiple sclerosis.
Patients who qualify would be eligible to possess up to a 60-day supply of marijuana, but how much that is remains to be determined by the state Department of Public Health. The law requires the DPH to set the amount within 120 days of when the law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2013.
Also up in the air is how the dispensaries will be registered. The DPH has the same 120 days to figure that out.
Until then, Brookline Health Department Director Alan Balsam and his counterparts in other towns are unsure of the municipal responsibilities for the law.
"One question that needs to be answered by the state is who's going to regulate it," Balsam said. "Is the state health department going to regulate it? Or will there be a role for the municipalities in regulating it? Or will there be a shared responsibility? That's unclear right now."
There could also be zoning issues related to the opening of dispensaries, he added.
Needham Board of Health member Ed Cosgrove told selectmen in a presentation in September that the law was impractical, too open-ended and potentially harmful to the community's health and safety.
But not every town will get a dispensary. The law caps the number at five per county.
While no one knows for sure where the dispensaries will be approved in Norfolk County, Massachusetts real estate law blogger Rich Vetstein speculated that Brookline, Dedham, Franklin and Quincy were likely locations based on size, county seat status and demographics.
Dedham Police Chief Michael d'Entremont said the location of the dispensary is likely to be hotly contested.
"Obviously no one is going to want any dispensary located in sensitive areas like schools or residential neighborhoods," d'Entremont said. "There are too many unknowns right now and every piece of it is concerning."
Many town officials are taking a wait-and-see approach. Lt. Marie Cleary, the spokesperson for the Wellesley Police Department, said Wellesley was unlikely to have a dispensary, but the department was still paying attention to how the law unfolds.
"We are going to see... whether we might move in the direction of proposing any types of zoning amendments and things of that nature depending on what happens in other communities," Cleary said.
In Norwood, Chief Brooks was opposed to any dispensaries in town.
"I don't think there are any locations that are good because I disagree with it entirely," he said.
Balsam summed up the pros and cons of the law, stating the Brookline Health Department was split in whether or not to recommend passing it.
"If you're treating patients who have AIDS or have cancer... and you know that medicinal marijuana can make a difference in their life, and save their life, then you might feel one way," he said. "If on the other hand you deal with kids who are substance abusers... you would have a concern that there would be an easier access to marijuana."
With the law now passed, state and local officials will have to balance those concerns in enacting the law.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: dailynewstranscript.com
Author: Dave Eisenstadter
Contact: The Dedham Transcript Contact Us
Website: Legal medical marijuana a tough sell for local police/health departments - Dedham, Massachusetts - The Dedham Transcript
Leaders of health and law enforcement departments from Norfolk towns expressed concern over increased drug use, abuse of the law and the establishment of marijuana dispensaries in their communities.
"It's a shame that it passed," said Norwood Police Chief William Brooks. "I haven't bumped into a police officer yet who thought the medical marijuana question was a good idea."
Despite the fact that Norwood residents voted in favor of the law 7,766 to 6,144, Brooks said he did not believe marijuana had medical properties or that legalizing it for medical use would benefit Massachusetts.
Norwood has struggled with a growing heroin and prescription abuse problem, but Brooks said other drugs were also on the rise.
"We've seen more marijuana use," Brooks said. "We see more marijuana in and around cars and our ability to deal with it is hampered by the change in its status."
In Westwood, Police Chief William Chase was concerned that the law gives certain individuals the right to grow their own marijuana.
Unlike drugs legalized at the federal level and distributed in pharmacies, marijuana will be available through as many as 35 state dispensaries, according to the law. Each county will have between one and five dispensaries, and qualifying patients can also apply for personal cultivating licenses if they are unable to visit a dispensary, either physically or financially.
Chase said he was sympathetic to patients suffering from cancer or other serious diseases and claim that marijuana helps ease their pain, but that a better way to move forward would have been through the federal government.
"The problem is who controls the quality of what's being sold," Chase said. "There are no safeguards and it could be laced with another drug."
Seventeen other states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medical use, but it remains against federal law. In Massachusetts, a patient must obtain a note from their physician and have been diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition. Examples provided in the law include cancer, glaucoma, HIV or AIDS, hepatitis C, Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, ALS and multiple sclerosis.
Patients who qualify would be eligible to possess up to a 60-day supply of marijuana, but how much that is remains to be determined by the state Department of Public Health. The law requires the DPH to set the amount within 120 days of when the law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2013.
Also up in the air is how the dispensaries will be registered. The DPH has the same 120 days to figure that out.
Until then, Brookline Health Department Director Alan Balsam and his counterparts in other towns are unsure of the municipal responsibilities for the law.
"One question that needs to be answered by the state is who's going to regulate it," Balsam said. "Is the state health department going to regulate it? Or will there be a role for the municipalities in regulating it? Or will there be a shared responsibility? That's unclear right now."
There could also be zoning issues related to the opening of dispensaries, he added.
Needham Board of Health member Ed Cosgrove told selectmen in a presentation in September that the law was impractical, too open-ended and potentially harmful to the community's health and safety.
But not every town will get a dispensary. The law caps the number at five per county.
While no one knows for sure where the dispensaries will be approved in Norfolk County, Massachusetts real estate law blogger Rich Vetstein speculated that Brookline, Dedham, Franklin and Quincy were likely locations based on size, county seat status and demographics.
Dedham Police Chief Michael d'Entremont said the location of the dispensary is likely to be hotly contested.
"Obviously no one is going to want any dispensary located in sensitive areas like schools or residential neighborhoods," d'Entremont said. "There are too many unknowns right now and every piece of it is concerning."
Many town officials are taking a wait-and-see approach. Lt. Marie Cleary, the spokesperson for the Wellesley Police Department, said Wellesley was unlikely to have a dispensary, but the department was still paying attention to how the law unfolds.
"We are going to see... whether we might move in the direction of proposing any types of zoning amendments and things of that nature depending on what happens in other communities," Cleary said.
In Norwood, Chief Brooks was opposed to any dispensaries in town.
"I don't think there are any locations that are good because I disagree with it entirely," he said.
Balsam summed up the pros and cons of the law, stating the Brookline Health Department was split in whether or not to recommend passing it.
"If you're treating patients who have AIDS or have cancer... and you know that medicinal marijuana can make a difference in their life, and save their life, then you might feel one way," he said. "If on the other hand you deal with kids who are substance abusers... you would have a concern that there would be an easier access to marijuana."
With the law now passed, state and local officials will have to balance those concerns in enacting the law.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: dailynewstranscript.com
Author: Dave Eisenstadter
Contact: The Dedham Transcript Contact Us
Website: Legal medical marijuana a tough sell for local police/health departments - Dedham, Massachusetts - The Dedham Transcript
