BOSTON MAYOR Michelle Wu’s plan to clear tents from the Mass. and Cass homeless camping site by January 12 is long overdue. If only it had been done earlier, the […]
Drugs
Posted inCriminal Justice
Bill would let Tompkins hold men solely for substance use treatment
SUFFOLK COUNTY SHERIFF Steven Tompkins could get permission to treat people civilly committed for substance use disorders in the Suffolk County jail, under a bill pending before the Legislature that […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Drug Addiction
A fix for the crisis at Mass. and Cass?
ACTING MAYOR Kim Janey declared last week that Boston will move to dismantle the tent city of homeless people that has grown in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Key flashpoints in debate over ‘supervised consumption sites’
FOR SEVERAL YEARS, Massachusetts lawmakers have been bandying about the idea of authorizing “supervised consumption sites” – locations where someone could use illicit drugs under medical supervision to prevent fatal overdoses. These sites could offer such services as clean […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
SJC upholds $21m verdict against Phillip Morris
MASSACHUSETTS” HIGHEST COURT on Wednesday upheld a $21 million jury verdict that cigarette company Phillip Morris will have to pay the family of a Lynn man who died from smoking-related […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
The ‘other crisis’ keeps on chugging along
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE PRELIMINARY DEPARTMENT of Public Health data show 1,038 people died of opioid overdoses in the first six months of this year, an estimated 5 percent decrease […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
PrEP must be available behind bars
IN AN EFFORT to reduce HIV transmission, the Biden administration released new guidance in July mandating that medical insurers provide free access to medication that prevents transmission of HIV. Although […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
New opioid settlement could bring $500 million to Massachusetts
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS STANDS TO receive more than $500 million over the next roughly 18 years as part of a massive settlement announced Wednesday that would end investigations […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Sackler family members to pay $4.3b settlement — $90m to Mass.
MEMBERS OF THE Sackler family who own Purdue Pharma will pay $4.3 billion to settle a lawsuit over Purdue’s role in perpetuating the opioid addiction epidemic, a lawsuit first initiated […]
Posted inOpinion
AG could give big lift to supervised drug sites
PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE’S Empire of Pain describes Attorney General Maura Healey’s quest, not just for financial restitution from members of the Oxycontin-promoting Sackler family but also to expose their deep […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
HIV cases spiking among Boston homeless
HEALTH OFFICIALS have identified a growing cluster of 134 HIV cases primarily among homeless people who inject drugs in the Boston area, a worrying sign for health officials who several […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Opioid overdose deaths rise during pandemic
DEATHS FROM OPIOID OVERDOSES increased in Massachusetts during the pandemic, after three years of a steady decline. The rise in deaths is an alarming sign and one that experts say is […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Healey sues global advertising firm for marketing addictive opioids
ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY, who has been one of the country’s strongest legal crusaders against opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma, has now filed a lawsuit against marketing firm Publicis Health for […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Mass. to get $13.2m from McKinsey opioid settlement
MASSACHUSETTS WILL get $13.2 million from a national settlement with consultant McKinsey & Company over the company’s role working for opioid companies. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, who has been […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Forced addiction treatment could be death sentence during COVID-19
AS THE COVID-19 pandemic continues to devastate communities across this country, correctional facilities have become one of the most explosive epicenters of this public health crisis. Despite calls to rapidly […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
A ban is not a plan
THE MASSACHUSETTS SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT has reminded us that we are not going to ban our way to social justice and public safety. The SJC on December 15 declared that […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Vaccine arrival brings hope to Massachusetts
“Hope arrived in a plain white box. It weighed 40 pounds and bore the label ‘heavy.’” So began Boston Globe health writer Felice Freyer’s account of the arrival of the […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
No marijuana ‘apocalypse,’ but legalization brings concerns
Second of two parts. Read the first part here. WHEN MASSACHUSETTS VOTERS were considering the 2016 ballot question to legalize recreational marijuana sales, opponents, including Gov. Charlie Baker, Attorney General Maura […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Lawsuit over civil commitments targets Hampden sheriff’s program
A LAWSUIT TO end the practice of confining civilly committed men with substance use disorders in prisons has been expanded to directly target a substance use program at the Hampden County House […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Proposed Roxbury pot shop stirs debate
WHEN IT COMES to the debate over marijuana legalization in Massachusetts, the horse has left the barn. Voters legalized recreational marijuana sales via a 2016 statewide ballot question, and pot […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Frontline behavioral health workers are saving lives, too
WE ARE LIVING in the age of crisis. An opioid epidemic. A global pandemic. Systemic racism. Each event will forever spark meaning and historical remembrance in our national conscience. Taken […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Markey, Kennedy visit jail, address criminal justice concerns
BY THE TIME someone gets to jail, in many cases, there are myriad societal problems that led them there – and those need to be addressed. That was the premise […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Substance use treatment changing at Plymouth prison
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION is removing correctional officers and expanding treatment programming at the troubled prison facility in Plymouth used to treat men civilly committed for substance use. The shift in […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Do civil commitments make sense in a pandemic?
IT’S HAMPDEN COUNTY Sheriff Nick Cocchi versus Prisoners’ Legal Services, round two, this time with a global pandemic thrown in. The sheriff and the legal services group have long been battling […]
