A HEARING EARLIER this month on Beacon Hill underscored the critical need for Massachusetts-specific solutions to the nation’s opioid crisis. As the Legislature prepares next steps to address this critical […]
Drug Addiction
Posted inDrug Addiction
Treating addiction as a chronic illness
You’ve shaped drug policy at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, at the White House, and now as executive director of the Grayken Center at Boston Medical Center. But it […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Big Tobacco’s mea culpa ad campaign
Big Tobacco is launching a major ad campaign this Sunday in which it acknowledges the deadly nature of smoking and the industry’s role in concealing the danger of cigarettes from […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Addressing inmate addiction must be a priority
THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE BILLS recently passed by the Massachusetts Senate and released by the House Committee on Ways and Means provide sensible reform to failed criminal justice approaches, including doing […]
Posted inOpinion
Public health emergency rings hollow
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S ANNOUNCEMENT that the opioid epidemic is a public health emergency certainly drew attention to the problem, but in reality it is an empty declaration that, at least as […]
Posted inOpinion
Colleges can’t be bystanders on opioids
THE OPIOID CRISIS, rooted in the overprescribing of painkillers, has seized the attention of public officials from Beacon Hill to Capitol Hill. So, too, has the inadequacy of mental health […]
Posted inOpinion
Drugs are best treatment for opioid abuse
THE OPIOID ADDICTION crisis in the United States has prompted leaders at the state and federal level to promise more money, new laws, and greater focus on the problem. That […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Clark takes on Purdue’s opioid marketingÂ
LATE LAST YEAR, an article in the Los Angeles Times caught the eye of US Rep. Katherine Clark of Melrose. The article alleged that Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma, the maker of […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Many newborns facing opioid withdrawal
ON THE SECOND FLOOR of the Tufts New England Medical Center is a room with no light and no sound but for the high-pitched screams of babies. Nurse Christine Lavoie […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Dempsey pitches higher pot tax
THE HOUSE’S TOP BUDGET OFFICIAL on Friday made a pitch for a higher tax rate on recreational marijuana during a press conference unveiling the Legislature’s fiscal 2018 budget proposal. Rep. […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, Opinion
With mixed record on opioids, Baker joining task force
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER IS JOINING a White House task force on opioids, to be chaired by fellow governor Chris Christie, whom Baker endorsed in the Republican presidential primaries. Baker is […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, State House News Service, The Download
Pushing the addiction-as-disease envelope
Two assumptions have have come to define discussion of the opioid crisis in the country: 1) It is not a partisan issue, and 2) we need to approach it as […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Drug Addiction, Opinion
Sununu, Rivera vow to work together on drugs
Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire and Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera talked by phone on Thursday after Sununu had claimed that most of the drugs flowing into the Granite State […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, State House News Service
Opioid deaths continued to climb in 2016
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE DYING from opioid overdoses in Massachusetts each year continues to climb, according to a new state report projecting an estimated increase of […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, Politics, State House News Service
Pot campaign bashed for appeal
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A FUNDRAISING APPEAL from the marijuana legalization campaign has drawn the ire of health care professionals and parents of children who died from opioid addiction after […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, State House News Service
Healey cuts deal with CVS on opioids
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE CVS PHARMACY will require its staff to check the state’s prescription monitoring program database before filling certain abuse-associated opioid prescriptions under a newly announced settlement with […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, State House News Service
Fentanyl fuels rise in opioid deaths
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FENTANYL HELPED FUEL an increase in opioid-related overdose deaths in Massachusetts over the first six months of the year, according to state public health officials whose […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, Opinion
Too many opioid prescriptions get written
CONGRESS HAS HELPED MASSACHUSETTS and the nation take another step forward in the battle against prescription drug abuse. The Comprehensive Recovery and Addiction Act (CARA), a bipartisan effort incorporating several […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, Economy, Politics
Top pols say just vote no
THE STATE’S TOP elected officials from both sides of the aisle made a powerful political appeal to oppose the ballot question that would legalize the adult use and commercial sale […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, Opinion
Medical marijuana could ease opioid crisis
THE CAMPAIGN TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA for recreational use in Massachusetts is dominating headlines and polls while drawing some strong opposition from important people. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, Attorney General Maura […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, The Back Story
The gateway debate over marijuana
CHRIS LOWE, A 41-year-old carpenter on Martha’s Vineyard, has smoked pot since his early 20s, both legally and illegally. When he lived in Montana, he had a certificate to grow, sell, […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, Opinion
What you can do to ease the opioid crisis
BY NOW, EVERYONE has seen or heard about the HBO documentary Heroin: Cape Cod, USA, and most have been bombarded with seemingly daily headlines highlighting the newest statistics or the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Drug Addiction, State House News Service
Deal struck on driver’s licenses for drug offenders
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE GROUP OF lawmakers working since January to reconcile House and Senate versions of a bill to repeal what has been called a remnant of the […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, Politics, State House News Service
Emotional Baker signs opioid legislation
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE An emotional Gov. Charlie Baker fought back tears Monday as he recounted the stories he’s heard from the parents of young people who have died from […]
