PRESSURE GROWS TO LEGALIZE MEDICAL POT

18 Distribution Centers Eyed in Bay State

Pot "Wal-Marts" like those planned for California and other states
could throw open their doors in the Bay State, as momentum builds for
the legalization of medical marijuana.

Two years after Massachusetts decriminalized possession of small
amounts of pot, a bill pending on Beacon Hill would allow
prescriptions for medical marijuana and set up 18 distribution centers
across Massachusetts.

"Since the 1930s, we've been fighting marijuana as the killer weed,
and that has to stop," said state Rep. Frank I. Smizik, a Brookline
Democrat championing the bipartisan bill. "There are so many people
suffering with serious diseases where marijuana is the only way to
stop the pain and keep them going."

Similar legislation is in place in Vermont and Rhode Island, where
cancer and other chronically ill patients can buy reefer. Maine, which
has allowed prescription weed for 12 years, is in the process of
licensing eight dispensaries.

Meanwhile, a 10,000-square-foot gardening emporium, described in news
reports as "the Wal-Mart of weed, just opened in Sacramento, offering
experts and merchandise to help medical marijuana patients grow their
own pot.

But even as the movement grows, some states are pulling back on their
own medical marijuana laws amid spiking crime. The Montana House
recently voted to repeal the state's six-year-old medical marijuana
law and in Colorado, seven towns have shut down dispensaries.

"We've had home invasions, and robberies and rip-offs of the people in
the underground-growing business," said Fort Collins, Colo. police
Capt. Jerry Schiager. "The problem is it is so profitable, and the
criminal element is so anxious to get in here and exploit this market,
you have to be very careful."

The Bay State proposal could be a money-maker for the commonwealth,
Smizik said, as distribution centers will have to pay licensing fees
of $5,000. And, he argues, it will also cut down on street crime as at
least a portion of sales will be regulated by the state.

"A lot of medicines (patients) get, like OxyContin, are pretty
dangerous ... Marijuana is the only thing that lets them function, and
people have to go out on the street to buy it," Smizik said.

The time is ripe for a "discussion" about legalizing medical marijuana
in the Bay State, agreed state Rep. Daniel Winslow, a Wrentham
Republican and former judge who noted a nonbinding referendum on the
issue passed "overwhelmingly" in his district in the 2010 election.