September 2016 Issue

United Boston Legalization Opponents Include
Doctor Who Blamed Marathon Bombing On Cannabis
As I've written many times here, the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts is
prime political territory for a modern
reefer madness scourge.
This is especially true since the
death of a state trooper who was
hit on the road by a driver who had
recently made a legal purchase at a
medical marijuana dispensary. Not
surprisingly, the organized campaign
against an upcoming November
ballot question that would legalize
recreational use and tax cannabis like
alcohol has poured gasoline on the
narrative that "commercial" weed is
bad for the Bay State.
The assault against cannabis is coming
from all angles. In the media,
where prohibitionist politicians
like Boston Mayor Marty Walsh are
parroted without having demonstrably
false statements corrected. In the
courts, where there have been two
lawsuits filed by marijuana opponents
to stop the ballot initiative.
And now in your doctor's office, as
state officials are railroading physicians
who prescribe cannabis.
Access to medical professionals who
are authorized to write "recommendations,"
as permission is called in
Mass, is a major issue of contention
in several states with medical cannabis
programs.
In New York, where activists have
gradually, successfully weakened
a notoriously prohibitive medical
system, the state assembly recently
passed legislation that will allow specially
certified physician assistants
and nurse practitioners to prescribe
cannabis.
Medical professionals finding it hard
J36
to recommend cannabis
In Massachusetts, despite voters
having approved medical cannabis
in a ballot initiative in 2012, there is
still apparently no official protocol.
Which is what led to Dr. John Nadolny,
M.D., medical director of Canna
Care Docs, having his license suspended
last month. (Full disclosure:
Canna Care Docs is a sponsor of my
streaming radio show, The Young
Jurks, and Nadolny wrote me my
recommendation for medical marijuana.)
Outlets, including the Boston Globe,
reported that Nadolny was suspended
for violations including "failing to
diagnose patients with a debilitating
medical condition as required by
law and delegating to nurse practitioners
the authority to make such
diagnoses." Which was strange, since
the law states that Certified Nurse
Practitioners (CNPs) are allowed
to recommend medical marijuana.
To quote the Mass General Laws:
"CNPs are authorized to issue written
certifications of marijuana for
medical use as provided pursuant to
the mutually agreed upon guidelines
between the NP and the physician
supervising the CNP's prescriptive
practice."
Last year, cannabis doctors in the
state and fellow activists with whom
I have spoken say they believed the
Medical Use of Marijuana Program
was working with stakeholders. But
that has since changed ever since
Governor Charlie Baker started
publicly campaigning against the
November legalization initiative.
As the DPH obstructively did not
yet allow CNPs to register their legal
recommendations, it appears that Dr.
Nadolny sent them in under his ID
(Canna Care spokespeople are unwilling
to speak on the record at this
time). Basically, for trying to comply
and disclose, and for his attempt to
help patients in the face of the state's
non-functioning protocol for nurse
practitioners, Nadolny's license was
suspended.
Legalization opponents join forces
Most local coverage of the doc's
suspension prominently noted the
death of the aforementioned state
trooper. For example, our local Fox
affiliate reported that "Massachusetts
is investigating a group of medical
marijuana clinics tied to a pot patient
who prosecutors said plowed
into and killed a state trooper on the
Massachusetts Turnpike in March."
So where is this conflation coming
from? Well, the opponents to
legalization are banding together
from many different quarters - from
healthcare and addiction specialists,
to profiteers from another enduring
industry, law enforcement and prosecution.
For one, look at Dr. Robert Dupont.
He's a big time guy in medicine today,
a kingpin - a national figure who
now has a local legion of proteges
parroting all the same non-evidence
based junk science for their own
ends. His Institute for Behavior and
Health works with people like Heidi
Heilman of the Mass Preventional
Alliance, which profits from selling
anti-marijuana materials.
All of them recently signed on as
plaintiffs in one of the lawsuits
attempting to toss the November
by Mike Crawford
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