65A - RPT - REGARDING MEDICAL MARIJUANA INITIATIVE

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OTHER ADVERSE SECONDARY IMPACTS IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF DISPENSARIES Other adverse secondary impacts from the operation of marijuana dispensaries include street dealers lurking about dispensaries to offer a lower price for marijuana to arriving patrons; marijuana smoking in public and in front of children in the vicinity of dispensaries; loitering and nuisances; acquiring marijuana and/or money by means of robbery of patrons going to or leaving dispensaries; an increase in burglaries at or near dispensaries; a loss of trade for other commercial businesses located near dispensaries; the sale at dispensaries of other illegal drugs besides marijuana; an increase in traffic accidents and driving under the influence arrests in which marijuana is implicated; and the failure of marijuana dispensary operators to report robberies to police. 68 SECONDARY ADVERSE IMPACTS IN THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE A. UNJUSTIFIED AND FICTITIOUS PHYSICIAN RECOMMENDATIONS California's legal requirement under California Health and Safety Code section 11362.5 that a physician's recommendation is required for a patient or caregiver to possess medical marijuana has resulted in other undesirable outcomes: wholesale issuance of recommendations by unscrupulous physicians seeking a quick buck, and the proliferation of forged or fictitious physician recommendations. Some doctors link up with a marijuana dispensary and take up temporary residence in a local hotel room where they advertise their appearance in advance, and pass out medical marijuana use recommendations to a line of "patients" at "about $150 a pop."69 Other individuals just make up their own phony doctor recommendations,70 which are seldom, if ever, scrutinized by dispensary employees for authenticity. Undercover DEA agents sportin fake medical marijuana recommendations were readily able to purchase marijuana from a clinic. 1 Far too often, California's medical marijuana law is used as a smokescreen for healthy pot users to get their desired drug, and for proprietors of marijuana dispensaries to make money off them, without suffering any legal repercussions. 72 On March 11, 2009, the Osteopathic Medical Board of California adopted the proposed decision revoking Dr. Alfonso Jimenez's Osteopathic Physician's and Surgeon's Certificate and ordering him to pay $74,323.39 in cost recovery. Dr. Jimenez operated multiple marijuana clinics and advertised his services extensively on the Internet. Based on information obtained from raids on marijuana dispensaries in San Diego, in May of 2006, the San Diego Police Department ran two undercover operations on Dr. Jimenez's clinic in San Diego. In January of 2007, a second undercover operation was conducted by the Laguna Beach Police Department at Dr. Jimenez's clinic in Orange County. Based on the results of the undercover operations, the Osteopathic Medical Board charged Dr. Jimenez with gross negligence and repeated negligent acts in the treatment of undercover operatives posing as patients. After a six-day hearing, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) issued her decision finding that Dr. Jimenez violated the standard of care by committing gross negligence and repeated negligence in care, treatment, and management of patients when he, among other things, issued medical marijuana recommendations to the undercover agents without conducting adequate medical examinations, failed to gain proper informed consent, and failed to consult with any primary care and/or treating physicians or obtain and review prior medical records before issuing medical marijuana recommendations. The ALJ also found Dr. Jimenez engaged in dishonest behavior by preparing false and/or misleading medical records and disseminating false and misleading advertising to the public, including representing himself as a "Cannabis Specialist" and "Qualified Medical Marijuana Examiner" when no such formal specialty or qualification existed. Absent any © 2009 California Police Chiefs Assn. 11 All Rights Reserved 65A-72