Sunday, May 10, 2009

The medical marijuana scam

KGO TV's Dan Noyes has an excellent story on a pot doctor who's making millions---with 19 clinics around the state---by prescribing pot for every possible ailment.

Most of us think, What's the harm in prescribing marijuana for virtually everything? Isn't pot non-toxic and relatively harmless? But if you have a serious ailment that's treatable by other means, Dr. Talleyrand will prescribe pot for you regardless, even though he doesn't really examine you. Noyes provides a link to the diagnostic sheet Talleyrand uses listing the many different ailments for which he prescribes pot.

To access the many pot clubs in SF, you first go to a doctor like Talleyrand, pay him $150 for his bogus diagnosis and his very real prescription, which you take to SF General to get your marijuana card, paying the city $103---or $52 if you're on Medi-Cal---according to a fact sheet a friend picked up at SF General during the process.

California needs to put a stop to this abuse or risk a political backlash that could eliminate medical marijuana entirely.

More info on the state's medical marijuana program.

Labels: