[A]fter years of fighting efforts to legitimize the cannabis industry, the League of California Cities and Police Chiefs Assn. have sponsored a bill designed to regulate marijuana more like a medicine....So the very mildness of the enforcement is what makes it unacceptable intimidation?
The sponsors want to shut down "doctor mills," where any walk-in who can concoct a medical excuse can walk out with a recommendation for marijuana. To tighten up, the bill would allow only a person's primary care doctor or a specialist referred by that doctor to make a recommendation....
But marijuana is still designated a Schedule 1 controlled substance by the federal government, which does not recognize medical uses. Already some doctors refuse to recommend it....
The bill also would require any doctor who wrote more than 100 recommendations in a year to be audited by the state Medical Board. Why 100? An oncologist could reasonably issue two recommendations a week. State law says no doctor can be punished for recommending marijuana to a patient, so the audit seems more like an intimidation tactic than a legitimate enforcement measure.
March 12, 2014
How to rein in the doctors who hand out all those recommendations that let Californians buy "medical" marijuana.
From the editors of the L.A. Times:
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20 comments:
Busybodies must insert themselves. Sounds like a way to try and hire more unnecessary state workers.
Just legalize it like Colorado and Washington. Problem solved.
Stoppit. Stop it, damn it. We are wasting so much time and money enforcing laws no more effective than those prohibiting alcohol were.
It's time to let it go. Watch what works and what doesn't in Washington and Colorado, then legalize it with effective regulation.
The absurdity of this war on marijuana is beyond belief.
I wonder how many of those doctors spent time in Madison learning how to write excuses ?
My daughter-in-law last night was telling us how a friend of hers is married to her high school sweetheart who runs a marijuana farm in Santa Cruz. He spends half his time at home and has armed guards at the farm. He is making a fortune selling his crop to the "medical marijuana shops."
I fail to see how any doctor in California is going to risk losing his DEA number over this.
The whole thing is a farce.
WHO CARES.
Intimidation is how totalitarian governments do their job.
What's the matter with California?
Cali and pot/drugs is like salt & pepper. Those rads are real prudes as they get older. Damn boomers don't want anyone else to have fun!
When will they rein in doctors who hand out handicap tags?
I'm in California now. Last week I stopped by a "medical marijuana" clinic near here and wrote about it on my blog.
Recently there was talk here of collecting signatures for a public vote to go the Colorado/Washington route and just legalize marijuana use. I was surprised when the pro-pot people postponed the plan until at least 2016.
Put it on the 2016 ballot, makes sense.
doctor to make a recommendation
Note that it is a 'recommendation', not a 'prescription'.
Call it a prescription and the DEA will pull a Doctor's ability to prescribe controlled substances.
hence 'recommendation'
Grass is still a Federal offense in quantity.
I agree with legalization. The brave Democrats will oppose legalization until the public changes as it did in gay marriage, then they will "grow in office."
As Glenn says, "Not enough opportunity for graft."
How about the Police chiefs just shut up and obey the law as written and passed by the people?
So, I flew out to LAX, got my rental and tootled down to Venice beach to kill the afternoon. Got out, took a leisurely stroll down the promenade, got margarita (Texas, frozen), then took about 5 steps and some sweet little girl in a filthy doctor's smock thingy said "Hey! Got your card?". I was puzzled for a second, then laughed. I told her I was from Georgia. She said, no problem, come in this booth. After a couple of minutes, she pointed outside the booth and said "Get in that van". I liked at her for a second like they were gonna take me somewhere and kill me, then decided, that wouldn't be so bad (My wife had died a month before, I'm still lost). They took me a few blocks down to one of those ramshackle beach type houses. She pointed to a door and said go in there. As I walked up, there was some kind of filthy degenerate Dustin Hoffman in that prison movie with Steve McQueen looking guy lurking around. Kinda creepy. I went inside, sat in a little room. They brought me in to speak to a guy who asked me what I was there for. Well, I'm, you know. Then he asked my malady, I just kinda looked at him and he said "Anxiety"? Well, yeah, plus I hated being alive, but sure anxiety worked. He scribbles something and hands it to me, tells me the super babe would take me to the doctor, who of course was Dustin Hoffman guy. On the outside deck. We sit down, he asks me what's going on? I tell him, we'll you know...He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a vial. "I recommend fish oil". I look at him. He says "Hey, I gotta offer". I decline. Next thing I know, I'm standing in front of some kinda Rastafarian poster, they take my picture, I pay $204.00 and I got one a them cards.
That's how they do it. It's awesome.
For $95 bucks in LA ANYONE can get a pot prescription. Hell, you can probably get one for "post-industrial malaise" or "adolescent angst." No disorder too insulting to the intelligence!
Damn, they nailed me huh?
Is there an actual problem that needs to be solved? Beyond the problem of police and attorneys having to justify their salaries, I mean.
No, this won't work. Doctors are not free to prescribre outside of hospital or medical group policy. The policy will most likely be "we don't want to deal with it," and the people who really need it won't be able to get it. That's not right.
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