THE PASSAGE OF the marijuana legalization referendum in November doesn't mean that the new law's exact language must stay frozen in amber forever. But the fact that the law was approved directly by the voters should mean that lawmakers consider changes with more caution than they showed on Wednesday, when both the House and Senate approved a six-month delay to some of the law's provisions without hearings or a formal roll-call vote. That decision, reached in informal session and sent to Governor Charlie Baker for his signature, doesn't change the basic structure of the legalization law. But if approved by Baker, it would slightly delay the opening of marijuana retail stores in Massachusetts and the creation of a new commission to oversee the industry. Legislative leaders say the delay will help implement legalization effectively. [continues 261 words]
Dugan Arnett wandered down Winter Street while looking for marijuana in Boston. Call me old-fashioned, but I trusted Nancy Reagan when she urged me to Just Say No. I listened when McGruff the Crime Dog insisted that "users are losers." And when my younger sister arrived home one night back in high school smelling of the devil's lettuce, I did what any self-respecting graduate of the DARE program would do: I told my mom. So when my boss approached me to ask if I'd be willing to go out on Thursday - the day marijuana officially became legal in Massachusetts - and attempt to buy some, it's safe to say I was caught off guard. [continues 1008 words]
Just a half-dozen Massachusetts legislators passed a controversial measure on Wednesday delaying the opening date for recreational marijuana stores in Massachusetts by six months. How could so few legislators decide such an important issue? The move, which took less than an hour, was extraordinary, but technically allowed. Here's how it works. First, keep in mind that legislative cycles in Massachusetts run on two-year calendars, beginning in odd-numbered years. So currently, we are at the end of a two-year cycle that began in 2015. [continues 394 words]
A man showed the marijuana he was selling on Boston Common earlier this month. It took less than an hour and about a half-dozen state legislators to undo the will of 1.8 million voters expressed just last month. The House and Senate passed a bill on Wednesday delaying the opening date for recreational marijuana stores in Massachusetts by half a year - from January to summer 2018. The extraordinary move would unravel a significant part of the marijuana law. About 1.5 million people voted against legalization on Nov. 8. [continues 726 words]
BOSTON -- The process for licensing retail marijuana shops would be delayed by six months under legislation that surfaced Wednesday in the Senate before clearing both branches, the result of which could push the legal sale of marijuana, authorized by a successful ballot campaign this year, well into 2018. The House and Senate on Wednesday morning during lightly attended informal sessions passed a bill (S 2524) amended by Sen. Jason Lewis, D-Winchester, pushing out the effective dates of several key milestones in the new law, including the dates by which the state will begin accepting applications and issuing licenses for retail pot shop licenses. The state, under the bill, would have until July 2018 to issue the first licenses for retail pot sales. [continues 591 words]
Andrew Freedman is Colorado's director of marijuana coordination. DENVER - Marijuana legalization brought unexpected challenges to Colorado, and it was rarely clear what part of state government was supposed to solve them, or how. Businesses were selling marijuana-infused, animal-shaped candy attractive to children. Residents growing pot at home were selling it illegally in other states. Growers were applying pesticides to cannabis plants even though none was specifically approved by the federal government for such use. Enter Andrew Freedman, Colorado's pot czar, who is bringing together the state's bureaucracy, marijuana industry, law enforcement community, and public health advocates to fix problems no other state had faced. [continues 1132 words]
Deadly synthetic opioids are streaming into the United States amid a flood of mail that arrives unscreened from abroad every day, overwhelming the Postal Service and fueling the drug epidemic gripping much of the country, security experts and Massachusetts lawmakers say. Nearly 1 million packages a day enter the country without any advance electronic information that might flag the presence of dangerous opioids such as fentanyl, much of which is manufactured in China, said Juliette Kayyem, a former assistant Homeland Security secretary. [continues 926 words]
[photo] Bonnie Bruce is the mother of a Vermont woman, Tamara, who was found the day after Thanksgiving passed out from heroin in her car with her fiance and their two young children. DORSET, Vt. - The midnight phone call woke them all up. As Bonnie Bruce struggled to understand what the police officer was saying, her 11-year-old grandson, Elias, appeared in her bedroom doorway and walked to her bedside, listening. He knew: It was about his mother. "Wait a minute, what are you telling me?" Bonnie gasped into the phone. The coil of dread lodged hard in her gut for the past 11 years, since her daughter first shot heroin into the soft crook of her elbow, abruptly gave way. "Is she all right?" [continues 3038 words]
Massachusetts voters legalized the sale and recreational use of marijuana when they passed Question 4 in November. Folks who work in the cannabis industry, who authored that legislation, want to squeeze as much as they can out of the Bay State market even if it means exploiting minority communities. Oh, they wouldn't describe it that way. The authors of the legislation instead called for regulators to encourage "full participation" in the new industry "by people from communities that have previously been disproportionately harmed by marijuana prohibition and enforcement and to positively impact those communities." [continues 233 words]
City Hall, cops, pols spearhead informational campaign Cops, City Hall and lawmakers are bracing for Thursday's onset of legalized "recreational" marijuana in Massachusetts, determined that if they can't dissuade tokers from lighting up they can at least provide information plus some vigilant law enforcement to try to keep people safe. Bay Staters voted last month to permit adults 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of weed while out in public - 10 ounces at home - while cultivating up to 12 plants per household. Selling pot remains illegal while the Legislature works on regulations to license retailers. [continues 392 words]
It was the night after Thanksgiving. The little boy, not quite 3, wore no socks, despite the cold. He sat on his unconscious mother's lap in the idling car, a spray of vomit dried on the window, according to the police. His father was slumped on the steering wheel, his seat belt wrapped around his arm like a tourniquet. In the back seat, the toddler's baby brother slept under a blanket. The parents, Tamara Bruce, 33, and Jacob Davis, 27, later told police that they had driven their children more than three hours from Manchester, Vt., to Lawrence to buy heroin and shoot up. When they passed out in a parking lot, another driver thought they were dead and summoned police. [continues 717 words]
Granite State cops are bracing for a potential influx of doped-up drivers and pot-smoking teens - even without a marijuana legalization question on the New Hampshire ballot - as Massachusetts and Maine voters could legalize the herb in November. "You're going to have more instances of drugged driving, and it's going to cost the state more money because of the increase in law enforcement and prosecution," said Dalton, N.H., police Chief John Tholl, who is also a state representative opposed to marijuana legalization. "It's just going to be a burden on the legal system." [continues 325 words]
OK, so maybe the helicopter was a little excessive. It's reasonable to criticize the lengths that authorities went to in an effort to confiscate a single pot plant from an elderly woman in Amherst - though it should be noted that the backyard raid at Peg Holcomb's home was just a small part of a larger marijuana eradication operation. But before sympathizers anoint the 81-year-old Holcomb a great martyr for the marijuana cause, we would simply point out that in Massachusetts there are legal means by which she could obtain marijuana if she really does need it to keep her glaucoma at bay, as she told the Herald. [continues 218 words]
BOSTON - The surge in deaths from drug overdoses has become an unexpected lifeline for people waiting for organ transplants, turning tragedy for some into salvation for others. As more people die from overdoses than ever before, their organs - donated in advance by them or after the fact by their families - are saving lives of people who might otherwise die waiting for a transplant. When Dave and Roxanne Maleham got the call in June that they had long dreaded - that their son, Matt, 38, was on life support after overdosing on heroin and fentanyl - they talked about donating his organs. [continues 1432 words]
Misleading the public and condescending to grieving parents is one approach to win supporters to your cause, but we can't imagine it's a winning one for the supporters of Question 4. Organizers of the campaign to legalize the recreational use of marijuana sent out a fundraising email last week in which they blurred the lines between general pot use, which the ballot question would legalize, and use of marijuana for medical purposes, which of course is already legal. "If you think people in our state deserve a safer alternative to prescription painkillers, please help end marijuana prohibition on November 8 by donating today," wrote campaign manager Will Luzier, who cites the opioid crisis and deaths from overdoses as an incentive to vote yes. [continues 221 words]
It was with a mixture of dismay and amusement - at the absurdity of it - that I read the quote in the short item "Guns barred for marijuana card holders" (Daily Briefing, Sept. 1). In the ruling by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, regarding the denial of gun purchases to medical marijuana card holders, Senior District Judge Jed Rakoff said that the use of marijuana "raises the risk of irrational or unpredictable behavior with which gun use should not be associated." With this logic in place, I am assuming the federal government will also restrict sales of firearms to those who consider alcohol their drug of choice. Robert Todd Jamaica Plain [end]
Most of the 13 members of the Boston City Council who voted in favor of an Allston medical marijuana dispensary were former consulting clients of a businessman lobbying for the company, raising questions about the influences on the city's oversight of its fledgling medical marijuana market. The businessman, Frank Perullo, was president of Sage Systems from November 2002 until the company closed in April 2015. Eight current city councilors hired Sage to provide various types of political consulting work during that period. [continues 1407 words]
It may have taken a frightening surge in opioid abuse to speed action, but Massachusetts now has a user-friendly online system for keeping track of drug prescriptions. The state monitoring program went live last week, after a $6.2 million overhaul of an unwieldy system that many doctors avoided like a virus. The new one is simple and fast. It pulls in real-time data from prescriptions written for controlled substances, including widely used opiates like oxycodone and hydrocodone. Doctors, nurse practitioners, and other prescribers have to consult the database before writing such a prescription for any new patient, as well as when they give existing patients their first prescription for a controlled substance. [continues 411 words]
RECENTLY I MET a man in Phoenix who told me that being diagnosed with cancer had made him happy. "How could this be?" I asked him. He told me having cancer meant he would likely need surgery, which in turn meant more prescriptions for the pain pills to which he had become addicted. He had started using prescription painkillers when he was young. Over the years, addiction hijacked his brain, compromising his health, altering his reasoning, and leaving broken relationships and deferred dreams in its wake. [continues 836 words]
Following the lead of Allston-Brighton's district councilor, Mark Ciommo, the Boston City Council opted to not endorse a locally run company's bid to open a medical marijuana dispensary in the Allston neighborhood. The voice vote - which appeared to be unanimous - came Wednesday at the weekly City Council meeting, two days after Ciommo held a contentious public hearing with the local company, Compassionate Organics. Ciommo favors another medical marijuana group for Allston, an out-of-state company named Mayflower Medicinals. [continues 656 words]
Boston City Councilor Mark Ciommo is again facing criticism this week for not backing a locally run company that wants to open a medical marijuana dispensary in his Allston neighborhood. Instead of supporting Compassionate Organics, Ciommo is steadfast in his backing of rival Mayflower Medicinals, a company that has hired the councilor's political consultant and close friend Frank Perullo. At a City Council hearing Monday, Geoffrey Reilinger, who founded Compassionate Organics, tried to convince councilors that he would bring a safe and professional dispensary to the neighborhood. [continues 759 words]
This week Boston City Council President Michelle Wu suggested it ought to be legal for individuals to purchase and consume pot. But if Wu has her way it would be unacceptable for them to take their goodies home from the pot store in a plastic shopping bag. Yes, in the same week that Wu and Councilor Tito Jackson announced their support for a November ballot question that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana, Wu ordered a study into how Boston might reduce the use of plastic shopping bags - including the possibility of an outright ban. [continues 262 words]
More than ever, the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl is claiming lives in Massachusetts, fueling an overdose death toll that continues to rise, according to data released Wednesday by the state Department of Public Health. During the first half of 2016, deaths from opioid overdoses were higher than in the same period last year. That happened despite an apparent decline in the use of heroin and prescription drugs. Prescriptions for opioid painkillers were at their lowest level since early 2015, and heroin and prescription drugs were found less frequently in the bloodstreams of overdose victims than in the past. [continues 659 words]
Boston City Council President Michelle Wu and Councilor Tito Jackson will formally endorse the state ballot push to legalize marijuana for recreational use. The move, to be announced at a State House event Wednesday morning, puts them directly at odds with Mayor Martin J. Walsh, who is helping to lead the charge against the referendum. A 2007 graduate of Harvard College, Wu said she never used the drug but recalled some classmates did during their years in Cambridge. "It just seems ridiculous that kids at Harvard can smoke pot and have incredibly successful careers while blacks and Latinos, particularly men and boys, who are using the same substance are sent to jail," she said, voice rising. [continues 757 words]
Young women in pink and powder blue princess costumes handed out cards advertising birthday parties to wide-eyed little girls, while commuters rushed past on bustling Washington Street to catch the Downtown Crossing subway. Around the corner in a gray building with no signs other than a green awning listing 21 Milk St., executives at Patriot Care were preparing Tuesday night for a milestone. It's been a long road with more than a few bumps, but Boston's first medical marijuana dispensary is finally ready for its expected grand opening Wednesday. [continues 803 words]
'Rush' Not Expected at City's First Facility Today's opening of the city's first pot shop in Downtown Crossing could be a mellow affair, with the owners predicting the dispensary will draw a few dozen customers with medical marijuana cards per day in its initial weeks, before slowly increasing to 90 to 100 daily customers. "We don't expect a rush the way you think about for recreational facilities," said Columbia Care CEO Nicholas Vita, whose nationwide company oversees the Massachusetts facility Patriot Care, at 21 Milk St. [continues 293 words]
Companies that want to open medical marijuana dispensaries in Massachusetts are being pressured into paying an unnecessarily high price to follow the letter of the law. The licensing process for dispensaries established under the state Department of Public Health is rightfully rigorous. But the vetting procedures also must be fair. That's not the case with a provision that requires applicants to submit de facto letters of consent from communities where they want to set up shop - the provision is being used by some local officials to elicit unreasonable payments from businesses applying for dispensary licenses. [continues 604 words]
Massachusetts cities and towns are exacting increasingly hefty payments from medical marijuana dispensaries in exchange for letters the companies need to win state licenses, a Globe review of recent compacts shows. In Worcester, a dispensary promised to pay the city $450,000 over three years - and $200,000 a year after that - if officials gave their blessing to the business. In Springfield, the city is negotiating a deal that would ultimately take 7 percent of a dispensary's revenue, plus a $50,000 annual donation to the Police Department - a pact that could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. [continues 1035 words]
As someone who was raised in Massachusetts and moved to Colorado three years ago, partly for the benefits of marijuana legalization, I'm perplexed that recent polls show a divided electorate on the question of legalization in my home state. We're talking about a plant drug that has never killed anyone in recorded history and has many medical benefits. Why should people be allowed to drink alcohol, objectively a much more dangerous substance, while the 10 to 15 percent of the population that uses pot gets hassled by law enforcement? Why not simply bring it within the law and reap the benefits of the tax dollars? [continues 72 words]
The argument against using drugs like methadone and Suboxone to kick heroin usually gets whittled to a cliched, and inaccurate, phrase: It's trading one addiction for another. But ask Dr. Jessie Gaeta about some of the clients she treats in the heart of Boston's so-called Methadone Mile and she'll describe regimens that are about trading despair for hope. Gaeta, who is chief medical officer at Boston Health Care for the Homeless, knows all about the doomsday scenarios that often play out on the grimy blocks around Massachusetts Avenue and Albany Street, where a mix of shelters, treatment centers, and methadone clinics years ago created a subculture of people desperate to get help or get high. Sometimes both. [continues 587 words]
As a 29 year-old bi-racial male raised in both the inner-city and suburbs of Worcester, having Black, White, and Latino family members and friends who responsibly consume marijuana, I repeatedly experienced and witnessed the disproportionate enforcement of marijuana laws in a racially biased manner. Despite virtually identical usage rates among whites and non-whites, research has consistently found that punitive marijuana laws disproportionately target non-white citizens. A recent study from the ACLU found that in 2010 - even after Massachusetts had decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana - black citizens in Massachusetts were four times more likely to be charged for marijuana possession than whites. [continues 99 words]
In "Life and loss on Methadone Mile" Nestor Ramos and Evan Allen describe the chaos and power of active addiction. The article focuses on the very visible individuals who continue to struggle with active heroin addiction or with misuse of prescription medications. What is missing is a narrative of hope for a disease that is as treatable as hypertension or asthma. Most people will get better, and the life-saving medications methadone and buprenorphine are the most effective pathway to recovery, not detoxification. Those doing well on medication are often invisible. The intense stigma surrounding methadone and buprenorphine, evidenced by the derogatory term "Methadone Mile," leads many not to disclose their treatment as they quietly go on to live meaningful lives in recovery. [continues 107 words]
The state's highest court said Wednesday that people convicted on drug charges in cases that involved a disgraced state chemist, Annie Dookhan, can seek new trials. Last year, the Supreme Judicial Court gave special permission to people to undo their pleas if they had pleaded guilty to drug charges in Dookhan-related cases. On Wednesday, it ruled that the same protection must be extended to some defendants who went to trial. "Regardless whether a defendant pleads guilty to a drug offense or is found guilty at trial . . . the evidence is still potentially tainted by Dookhan's misconduct," Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants wrote for the court. "The taint is still attributable to the government [because] it may be impossible for the defendant to prove [their] case . . . was actually tainted by Dookhan's misconduct." [continues 609 words]
It would be foolish to expect an addict - straight out of jail, treatment, or both - to find a sober night's sleep under a bridge, said Jared Owen, a man in recovery. With not enough housing options in the state, Owens said recovering addicts are frequently left with the forlorn question, "What now?" On Tuesday, public and private sector leaders from across New England and upstate New York convened in Boston to talk about substance abuse in their states, and how comprehensive housing programs could help curb the crisis. [continues 537 words]
Last night's needles line the sidewalks at dawn along the blighted blocks where Massachusetts Avenue and Southampton Street meet. People emerge from shelters and halfway houses and trudge toward the methadone clinics that lend this place its ugly nickname. An open-air drug market is in full swing on the corner outside a convenience store, where offers of drugs trill like music. "Clonidines-Clonidines-Clonidines-Clonidines!" "Does anybody need Xani Bars?" Phenergans, Pins, Johnnies? A man grimaces one chilly morning, unsteady on his feet. He opens his mouth to reveal a knotted bag of heroin, double-wrapped and ready to be swallowed should police wade into the crowd. "This is all I have left," he says. [continues 5437 words]
State campaign finance officials have dismissed a complaint against the police chief of Walpole, but supporters of a ballot question to legalize marijuana now say they will take their case to the state Ethics Commission. The pro-marijuana group, Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, has accused the chief of improper political advocacy on the job. Last month, Chief John Carmichael, who has been outspoken on the dangers of substance abuse, participated in an event in Framingham organized by opponents of the November ballot measure to describe what he said were public safety hazards posed by edible products with marijuana in them. The pro-legalization group said Carmichael should not have come to the event in uniform during work hours, and should not have used his departmental car to get there. [continues 339 words]
As a former journalist at the Globe, and as a nurse who works in addiction treatment, I was disappointed in the July 9 article "Mass. leaders join against marijuana legalization." It gave politicians space for their swift-boating campaign against legalizing marijuana, casting it as a gateway drug and tying it to the opioid crisis. I found it one-sided. Of 21 paragraphs, five offered pro-legalization statements. The opponents "issued a passionate cry," while the lone proponent "brushed off" their arguments. The article did not offer expertise, cite evidence, or challenge statements. There is some evidence, in fact, that marijuana not only is not a gateway to addiction, but may help recovering addicts maintain their sobriety. Teen use is not up in Colorado. Massachusetts would be able to control the shape, color, and marketing of edibles. The Globe should not enable a fear-mongering smear campaign against a legitimate ballot issue that would likely solve many more problems than it creates. Steve Hatch, Malden [end]
I am deeply concerned about both Joan Vennochi's column ("Like Bill Clinton, I didn't inhale," July 12) and the political coalition that opposes the marijuana legalization initiative ("Mass. leaders join against marijuana legislation"). While decriminalization in Massachusetts has been a worthwhile and successful step in reducing the number of arrests for marijuana possession, it has not gone far enough. I have worked with the Committee for Public Counsel Services for many years, and found that police officers routinely charge people not only with possession, but with intent to distribute marijuana, which almost automatically adds in the school zone provision. Virtually everywhere in any urban area is within 1,000 feet of what is defined as a school zone. This brings felony conviction, mandatory minimum sentences, and the potential for total unemployability in the future, not to mention the harm that comes from prison time. It does so with no evidence that it accomplishes any positive purpose in the vast majority of those incarcerated, nor for society. [continues 123 words]
While I have serious questions about whether the Commonwealth is able and ready to effectively regulate the sale and distribution of cannabis, and I am not sure how I will vote on the referendum ballot, I disagree with Joan Vennochi's assertion that marijuana is a gateway drug to opioid addiction ("Like Bill Clinton, I didn't inhale"). Vennochi's evidence is anecdotal, and she overlooks the most likely connection between marijuana and opioid use. When marijuana is illegal, people are forced to buy from dealers who have a financial incentive to offer other, possibly addictive drugs to their customers. Legalization, even more than decriminalization, could close or limit this gateway for the recreational marijuana user. William Graves, Medford [end]
The Fight Against Marijuana Legalization When it comes to marijuana legalization, what do you trust? Studies that conclude cannabis is not a harmful gateway drug - or the memory of a glassy-eyed college roommate who stopped going to class? For me, it's the memory. Like Bill Clinton, I didn't inhale. Honest. I went to college in the '70s, so pot, as we called it then, was obviously all around me. But I had a mother who warned me that the slightest intake would turn me into a heroin addict. I didn't develop deep skepticism toward authority until later in life, so I listened to her. When I finally tried marijuana - after college - I horrified the guy I was with by puffing out, not in. That humiliation saved me from future experimentation that could prove Mom wrong. [continues 491 words]
State Study Shows Path to Addiction At least two out of every three people who fatally overdosed in 2014 had been given an opioid prescription in the years prior, according to new state data, which officials say underscores the long-held theory that even legally prescribed painkillers can help push people toward a deadly addiction. "It certainly confirms what we believe," Marylou Sudders, the state's health and human services secretary, told the Herald yesterday. "It is significant, which is why we said we need to really focus on prescribing patterns, in getting drugs off the street - legal and illegal. ... Frankly we need to accelerate those efforts." [continues 350 words]
The arrival of medical marijuana in Massachusetts and other states is changing the way doctors prescribe conventional medications, a study published Wednesday reports. The study, one of the first to investigate whether medical marijuana laws alter prescribing patterns, analyzed data from 17 states and Washington, D.C. It found that after medical marijuana laws were adopted, doctors wrote fewer prescriptions for Medicare patients diagnosed with anxiety, pain, nausea, depression, and other conditions thought to respond to marijuana treatment. That translated to about $165 million less spent on prescription drugs in just one year in the Medicare program, which provides health insurance for older adults, according to the study published in the journal Health Affairs. [continues 764 words]
Boston (AP) - Massachusetts' highest court on Wednesday cleared the way for a November ballot question on legalizing small amounts of recreational marijuana, but it ordered changes in the wording of the question's title and the brief statement that explains the measure to voters. The justices, in a unanimous opinion, said the current title and statement were "clearly misleading," though otherwise found no reason to disqualify the proposal from the ballot. The ruling from the Supreme Judicial Court came hours before supporters of legalized pot turned in more than 25,000 additional certified voter signatures to the secretary of state, well above the 10,792 needed to assure a spot on the ballot. [continues 346 words]
This week the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is scheduled to announce an increase in the number of prescriptions doctors can write for Suboxone from 100 to 275 a year. Congress is considering legislation that would make further increases in the availability of the drug, used to treat addictions to heroin and other opioids. While the effectiveness of Suboxone (generically called buprenorphine) as a heroin treatment can be argued, there is no debate about it being a major problem for those of us who run correctional facilities. At the Norfolk County Correctional Center in Dedham, Suboxone is public enemy No. 1 when it comes to inmates trying to smuggle in contraband. [continues 293 words]
The state's highest court in its latest ruling took it upon itself to actually rewrite the title and the summary that will inform voters about the impact of a ballot question to legalize the sale of recreational marijuana in this state. Now, silly us, but you'd think if something needed that much rewriting to adequately explain it, well then maybe it shouldn't be on the ballot at all - that maybe something so flawed at the petition-signing stage should have to start from scratch. [continues 253 words]
Don't like the message? Well, for the folks behind a campaign to legalize the recreational use of marijuana the answer is just to shoot the messenger. The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol has filed a petty complaint with state campaign finance regulators, alleging that Walpole Police Chief John Carmichael violated state rules by appearing at an event sponsored by a group opposed to the pro-pot ballot question, in uniform and during work hours. The group alleges Carmichael broke the rules by engaging in political advocacy. And had he shown up at the June 23 event and explicitly called on voters to reject the November ballot question, maybe they'd have an argument. [continues 176 words]
Like many Americans, I want to know how we got to the point that nearly 30,000 of our fellow countrymen and women died last year from overdosing on opioids. Many answers can be found in a report written by staff working in the US Senate. But the senators overseeing the report have failed to release it. As a former investigator on the Senate Finance Committee, I have professional reasons for wanting to see the report made public. I also have personal reasons - I lost two cousins to opioids, and my father unwittingly became briefly addicted to fentanyl when he was prescribed the drug for back pain. [continues 618 words]
A small circle of physicians - 13, to be precise - has provided the vast preponderance of approvals needed by Massachusetts patients to gain access to medical marijuana, state records show, a pattern that underscores the continued growing pains of a new industry. These doctors certified nearly three-quarters of the 31,818 patients who had received permission to use medical marijuana by early June. The concentration of approvals in the hands of so few physicians is a story of both opportunity and fear. For the baker's dozen of doctors, medical marijuana certifications provide a robust stream of patients, who typically pay $200 out of pocket for an initial office visit. [continues 1174 words]
Organizers of a referendum campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in Massachusetts accused Walpole's police chief on Thursday of veering into political advocacy by speaking at a campaign event organized by opponents of the November ballot measure. Chief John Carmichael, who has been an outspoken advocate about the dangers of substance abuse, participated in the June 23 event in Framingham to detail what he said were public safety concerns about the dangers of edible products derived from marijuana. The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol said it filed a complaint to the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance arguing that Carmichael should not have come to the event in uniform during work hours, and should not have used his departmental car to get there. [continues 358 words]
WEST BOYLSTON - Antwan Stevenson has been behind bars, time and again, for a total of more than five years since adolescence. The 24-year-old has run with a violent Dorchester gang, several friends have been killed, and his father was shot dead in January. "I have to change," he said, sitting on a bunk in a 9-by-11-foot cell. Finally, this father of three thinks he has found a way: an intense six-month program at the Worcester County House of Correction in which inmates confront the reasons they abused drugs or alcohol and the bitter consequences that followed. [continues 930 words]
Inside Massachusetts
