Drug Addiction

Baker opens a legal can of worms

Opinion

Baker opens a legal can of worms

Pushes strict liability for deaths caused by distributing illegal drugs

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GOV. CHARLIE BAKER filed new legislation last month to battle the opioid crisis. His bill proposes some “important updates” to our arsenal of weapons in this fight, one of which, he says, would add a measure of “accountability” to the current strategy of treatment, education, and prevention. Specifically, the governor intends to “ensure that those who(...)

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New pot czar has inhaled

New pot czar has inhaled

Hoffman says drug is 'harmless' but can be abused

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DESPITE VOTING AGAINST the referendum to legalize marijuana last November, Steven Hoffman, the chairman of the new state board charged with regulating the nascent retail pot industry, said he thinks the drug is “harmless” and will cause no more problems than alcohol. “I personally believe marijuana is a harmless drug,” Hoffman said in an interview(...)

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Cannabis Commission may be scrambling for funds

Cannabis Commission may be scrambling for funds

Initial $2m budget is unlikely to stretch that far

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THE STATE COMMISSION CHARGED with implementing the new legal marijuana law is starting its work with no money in its coffers and uncertainty about whether it will have sufficient funds to set up the permitting process needed to oversee a billion-dollar industry from scratch. State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, whose office was given autonomy over the(...)

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Majority of pot board opposed referendum

Majority of pot board opposed referendum

New cannabis commission seeds concerns about the law’s future

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THE NEW CANNABIS Control Commission is now complete but, with the appointment of yet two more members who voted against the ballot question to legalize marijuana, the panel has a majority who opposed the measure and just one proponent, who was one of the drafters of the initiative petition. Attorney General Maura Healey appointed Britte(...)

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Ballot opponent to head legal pot commission

Ballot opponent to head legal pot commission

State treasurer taps former Bain executive as chair of regulatory board

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STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A RETIRED BUSINESS executive and former Bain and Company partner who voted against the referendum to legalize marijuana has been tapped by Treasurer Deborah Goldberg to chair the new Cannabis Control Commission and lead the state’s efforts to get a recreational pot industry off the ground by next summer. Steven Hoffman,(...)

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Baker pushes new drug dealing charges

Baker pushes new drug dealing charges

Backs tougher penalties on sales that lead to opioid overdose deaths

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STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A YEAR AFTER WORKING with the Legislature to try to stem the flow of opioids and improve addiction treatment options, Gov. Charlie Baker is targeting the peddlers of dangerous narcotics with a proposal to enhance penalties for dealing drugs that lead to overdose deaths. The governor, who sits on President Donald(...)

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Baker taps pot foe for cannabis control board

Baker taps pot foe for cannabis control board

Dem senator is second opponent governor put on regulatory panels

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STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SEN. JENNIFER FLANAGAN, a Leominster Democrat, has become the first of five members of the powerful new Cannabis Control Commission, tapped by Gov. Charlie Baker to help take on the responsibility of regulating the nascent recreational marijuana industry and licensing retail pot shops. Flanagan, who voted against the 2016 ballot question(...)

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Baker signs pot bill, raises concerns

Baker signs pot bill, raises concerns

'I worry terribly about the consequences,' governor says

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STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER signed a law on Friday overhauling the marijuana legalization measure voters put on the books in November, and immediately afterward offered a cautious outlook on the future of the cannabis industry in Massachusetts. “I don’t support this,” Baker said after signing the law in his office, shortly past(...)

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Lawmakers reach pot compromise

Lawmakers reach pot compromise

Bill boosts tax up to 20 percent, creates unique mechanism for local control

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FIRE UP THE SMOKING lamp. House and Senate negotiators finally reached a compromise on amending the voter-approved law legalizing marijuana in Massachusetts, agreeing to levy a tax of up to 20 percent and approving a different process to implement bans or restrictions based on election results from last November. “Compromise means you get some of what(...)

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Clark takes on Purdue’s opioid marketing 

Summer 2017

Clark takes on Purdue’s opioid marketing 

Says pharmaceutical company’s ‘greed and recklessness’ spawned crisis

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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 Oxycontin, was moving aggressively to sell its signature drug abroad now that sales in the United States are on the decline. The Times article said(...)

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