POT CLINICS SHOULD GUARD AGAINST DRUG DIVERSION

In the 1990s, well-meaning physicians changed the way they prescribed
narcotics after medical researchers determined that pain was being
undertreated in the United States.

As a result, large quantities of powerful drugs like OxyContin were
diverted into the black market. Drug makers, pharmacists and doctors
got smarter about how they distributed the drugs, but not before
people abused them and became addicted, in many cases leaving their
lives ruined or their families grieving.

Maine will face a similar danger with the opening of medical
marijuana dispensaries next year, with four of the first six run by
Northeast Patients Group, a California-based firm.

The dispensary for central Maine will locate either in Waterville or
Augusta, depending on zoning regulations, the new hospital and the
highway exit. Outgoing Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion, Winthrop
resident Faith Benedetti and a retired pharmacist from Holden are on
the groups board of directors.

Remedy Compassion Center received the license for the district that
comprises Franklin, Oxford and Androscoggin counties. The proposed
location is in East Wilton.

Reports of how medical marijuana is distributed in California makes
Northeast Patients Groups presence here unsettling. On the West
Coast, medical marijuana is seen by many as a legal fig leaf for
recreational drug use, with clinics equipped with onsite doctors, who
can write prescriptions for anxiety to any patient who wants one.

Maines rules about how prescriptions are written and for what
conditions are much stricter than Californias, and if they are
rigorously followed, Maines dispensaries have a better chance of
getting marijuana to those who are supposed to have it.

We are encouraged that Northeast Patients Group has named Dion to its
board of directors. Dion was an early advocate of medical marijuana,
but a vocal opponent of general legalization. He will bring a
law-enforcement perspective that should be valuable in determining
the safest ways to distribute the drug.

We dont need another drug-diversion disaster. Its up to the state and
these licensees to make sure it doesnt happen again.