MICHAEL JACKSON CASE: MANY DOCTORS LEGALIZED DOPE DEALERS
Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 06:00AM 
Ritalin, a controlled substance, often crushed & snorted
Powder cocaine
I'm trying to understand the difference between a coke dealer and a doctor who prescribes controlled substances to a patient who doesn't need the drug. I don't think there is a difference. Many doctors have become legalized drug pushers. They over-medicate and over-prescribe controlled substances to patients, especially high profile patients, because they want to be part of the Hollywood inner-circle. A starlet who gets pulled over by the cops and searched will not be charged with possession of a controlled substance if she has a bottle of valium in her Judith Leiber purse; but rest assured, she'll be hauled off to jail if she has even the smallest amount of coke tucked away in her lipstick container. Does this make any sense whatsoever?
When are the states and Feds going to prosecute a doctor for manslaughter for his over-prescription of a patient who dies as a direct result of prescription drug abuse? We arrest the dealers of pot, coke, crack and heroine. The writing of a prescription for a patient who does not need the drug or who is taking the drug in excess must be a crime. I have represented countless drug dealers as a criminal defense attorney. I have yet to represent a doctor for the same crime.
Gerald Posner reported that MJ's dermatologist, Dr. Arnold Klein, was kicked out of Penn Med School for selling unauthorized prescription meds to students back in the 70's. Article here. Oh wait, he was asked to leave the school...they didn't want to kick him out because then he wouldn't have been able to continue a career in medicine. So, Dr. Klein finished his study of medicine at UCLA. Geez, this guy was a dope dealer from Day 1!
Just because Pablo Escobar had access to cocaine, that did not make his sale of it legal. Just because doctors have access to write prescription drugs, the script does not make the drug legal. Without the script, the drug is illegal; hence, the reason it's called a controlled substance, just like cocaine.
The difference between a street-drug dealer and a doctor is that the dealer owes the buyer no duty whatsoever. The doctor, on the other hand, owes his patient a duty 1) not to medicate if the medication is not needed, and 2) not to over-medicate the addicted patient.
The state and the Feds must use the Michael Jackson case to set a precedent and send a signal to all doctors who abuse their license: if you over-prescribe and the patient dies, you go to jail.
Arnold Klein, addict, cocaine, crime, dealer, doctor, prescription, prosecute in Michael Jackson 
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Reader Comments (2)
Likewise, it only makes sense to put street drugs under "controlled substances" laws. The profit motive must be removed from street drug dealing, and at the same time, 'legal" distribution is in the hands of licensed distributors. Society at least then knows who has an addiction to what and where they live, who is responsible for distribution and where they operate.
Western farmers would be pleased to provide weed of the highest quality to a legal distribution channel for $400 per ton, taking the profit out of $600/kilo street weed. Denied exorbitant margins, the "illegal trade" dries up, leaving the manageable task of enforcement on the "legal" end, far simpler than enforcement of the illegal traffic.
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