| Photo: Des Moines Register |
| GOP Rep. Clel Baudler lied to a California doctor in order to get a medical marijuana authorization. |
An Iowa state representative’s lie to a California doctor to obtain a medical marijuana authorization is the focus of an ethics complaint to be considered Thursday by a legislative ethics committee.
The complaint was filed by Des Moines resident and marijuana advocate Mike Pesce, who said Rep. Clel Baudler broke California law, which forbids people from fabricating information to obtain a medical marijuana recommendation, reports Jason Clayworth at the Des Moines Register.
Rep. Baudler claims he “did not fill the prescription.” He said he conducted the publicity stunt last year to demonstrate what he claims are “abuses” of California’s medical marijuana laws.
“I spent 15 minutes with this ‘doctor’ and six of thouse were used attempting to overcome the language barrier between us (he was an oriental [sic]‘doctor’ and only spoke broken English,)” Baudler wrote in an email to supporters in October.
Baudler, 71, a former state trooper, admitted he lied about having medical problems — hemorrhoids, in his case — to obtain a medical marijuana recommendation to prove “how asinine it would be to legalize ‘medical marijuana.’ “