GREENFIELD - Those who are concerned that loved ones may be at risk for heroin overdose are urged to attend a free community Narcan training at the RECOVER Project on Federal Street Monday afternoon. Participants will receive training and a dose of the nasal spray version of the drug that can save lives by reversing the effects of a heroin overdose. The Aug. 11 training will be conducted by Tapestry Health at the RECOVER Project, 68 Federal St., at 1:30 p.m. Advance registration is not necessary. [continues 469 words]
WEST SPRINGIELD - The fire department, the first in the area to equip its fire engines with Narcan, has already employed it twice to revive two patients suffering from suspected heroin overdoses. The fire department began carrying the nasal-spray version of the drug on it's engines about two months ago. Deputy Chief Steven A. Manchino, who is also ambulance director for the department, said the Narcan was used to good effect on April 28 and May 7. In both instances, engine crews revived the victims before ambulance crews, who also carry the drug, arrived. [continues 324 words]
WEST SPRINGFIELD - Resident inmates recovering from drug addiction at the Western Massachusetts Correctional Alcohol Center, a component of the Hampden County Sheriff's Department, spoke out about the dangers of substance abuse Wednesday at the High School as part of a forum geared toward raising awareness about drug abuse for families and students in grades 5 through 8. More than 75 people attended the presentation, which is part of a national effort called "notMykid," with officers from the West Springfield Police Department and the Hampden County Sheriff's Department leading discussions about parental involvement and awareness, and information on rehabilitation programs. [continues 256 words]
DEERFIELD - Narcan, an increasingly available drug used to counter the effects of heroin overdose, has revived three people within a recent 72-hour span, Police Chief John Paciorek Jr. said. "Until you have witnessed this in person you can't describe it," Paciorek said of the drug's ability to bring those suspected of overdosing on heroin - often literally on the brink of death - back to life within seconds. The first suspected overdose, involving a 30-year-old woman who was described as unresponsive at a River Road residence, was reported about 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Paciorek said. [continues 584 words]
Pity the heroin or painkiller addict in Massachusetts who wants to kick the lethal habit. Sound like a strange statement? There are many barriers to getting -- and staying -- clean in Massachusetts. It's a lot easier to get another fix (or get into detoxification following an arrest) than it is to find a bed in a detoxification facility or a longer term stay in in-patient treatment or sober housing. Insurance companies, including MassHealth, make it difficult for addicts to get the help they need, according to many who have studied addiction and attempted to help addicts. That must change immediately. [continues 427 words]
SPRINGFIELD -- The City Council on Monday approved a zoning ordinance that will require any proposed medical marijuana facility in Springfield to obtain a local special permit and follow numerous regulations. The zoning ordinance was approved in a 9-1 vote Councilor Clodovaldo Concepcion cast the sole "no" vote at Monday's hearing, saying he has concerns about crime and how such a business would be controlled. "I will not vote for that today or 100 years from now," Concepcion said. Under the approved Springfield ordinance, any medical marijuana center in Springfield must obtain a special permit from the council after a public hearing and must be located within an Industrial A zone. In addition, the centers cannot be located within 500 feet of a residence and must be at least 500 feet from any school, child care center or any other site where "children commonly congregate." [continues 419 words]
CHICOPEE --Medical marijuana dispensaries will be limited to a small section of the city's industrial zone and will not be allowed next door to schools, homes or churches. After months of writing and re-writing the ordinance, the City Council recently passed the final version in a 13-0 vote. "The city will have to have an ordinance in place so we can have control over this," said Councilor James K. Tillotson, who oversaw the effort to create the regulations. [continues 292 words]
WESTFIELD -- Voters across the commonwealth approved the use of medical marijuana during the November elections, but it is an issue that has remained relatively low-key in Westfield as officials put a moratorium on dispensaries pending further state regulations. Public hearings held by the City Council and Planning Board in May drew no comment from meeting spectators, and Ward 4 City Councilor and Legislative and Ordinance Committee member Mary L. O'Connell said residents have not expressed any opinions on the matter. [continues 360 words]
Secretary of State William Galvin's annual voter information guide contains an Internet address for opponents of medical marijuana that distorts and mocks the stands of opponents, possibly hurting their long-shot effort to defeat the ballot question. Opponents have only themselves to blame for the error, according to a spokesman for Galvin, who published the guide and began mailing it last week to each household in the state. The guide includes the web address that was submitted by opponents to Galvin's office. [continues 328 words]
BOSTON -- The chairman of insurance giant Progressive Corp. this year provided another $465,000 for a ballot question to legalize medical marijuana in Massachusetts. Peter B. Lewis, who supports medical marijuana, has now contributed $990,000, including $525,000 last year, to the Committee for Compassionate Medicine, the organization leading the effort to legalize medical marijuana in Massachusetts. Lewis is nonexecutive chairman of Progressive, which is based in Mayfield Village, Ohio. This Associated Press file photo shows marijuana plants in Seattle at a medical marijuana growing operation. Tax enforcers have started auditing medical marijuana dispensaries in Washington, escalating a dispute over whether the outlets should be collecting money for state government. [continues 392 words]
AMHERST - One local professor's attempt to obtain federal permission to grow marijuana for research into its potential medical benefits has been rejected by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA has previously said that permitting anyone other than the government to grow marijuana would lead to greater illegal use of the drug. Lyle Craker, a UMass professor of plant, soil and insect sciences in Amherst, has been trying to obtain a license since 2001 to further potentially life-saving research. [continues 530 words]
SPRINGFIELD Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni acknowledges that some drug investigations will be impacted by a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling preventing police from relying only the odor of marijuana to search vehicles and their occupants. But, he added, the April 19 decision by the SJC doesn't necessarily move the commonwealth closer to legalizing marijuana, possession of which was partially decriminalized more than two years ago. "I don't know if this will be a slippery slope toward legalization," Mastroianni said in an interview with The Republican, referring to the SJC decision and a November 2008 ballot measure that decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana. [continues 643 words]
Meet Jane Doe. She's a spry, kindly woman who turned 100 today. Jane credits her long life to her deep faith – she attends church regularly. She takes a two-mile walk each morning, and she likes to knit and read. By the way, she smokes two marijuana joints a day. If today were Feb. 26, 2060, and a recent report pans out, Jane Doe might turn out to be your typical baby-boom centenarian. According to the Associated Press, pot use is rising among the nation's elderly, and the trend could continue as baby boomers transition from middle to old age. [continues 237 words]
LUDLOW - Voters at Monday's annual Town Meeting approved a bylaw which prohibits the consumption of marijuana in public places. The new law, which was approved by a majority vote of those at the Town Meeting, is enforceable by a $300 fine. Police Sgt. Louis E. Tulik advocated for passage of the law on the Town Meeting floor. Tulik said the law will prevent groups of people from having "the audacity to smoke" in public places with the state decriminalization of possession of an ounce or less of marijuana. [continues 242 words]
Someone caught smoking marijuana in public would face escalating fines of between $100 and $300 on top of an existing state fine of $100, under a measure the City Council could approve tonight. But a civil liberties lawyer said last week that toughening the state's new marijuana law is unnecessary and unwanted. The lawyer also said that a former New Jersey state trooper who belongs to the group, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, will oppose the measure in the pre-meeting speakout. [continues 460 words]
SPRINGFIELD - Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet said Monday he would support a City Council ordinance to make smoking marijuana in public an arrestable offense with a $300 fine. The ordinance would be a response - with the approval of the state attorney general - to a state law that took effect Jan. 2 that has decriminalized possession of an ounce or less of marijuana. "I would be agreeable to that, if the City Council saw fit to pass such an ordinance ... I think smoking marijuana publicly, especially in the vicinity of schools, is a bad message to send," Fitchet said, at a council committee meeting at City Hall. [continues 306 words]
SPRINGFIELD - The last thing Springfield needs is to become the marijuana-smoking capital of Western Massachusetts, a city councilor said. That's partly why there's a meeting today about a new pot-possession law. The council Veterans, Administration and Human Services Committee will discuss the new state marijuana law at 3 p.m. at City Hall in Room 200. The law has taken effect after voters in November overwhelmingly approved a ballot question to decriminalize possession of an ounce or less of marijuana. [continues 474 words]
SPRINGFIELD - A [redacted] man became the first person in Springfield, and possibly the state, fined for marijuana possession under the state's decriminalization law that went into effect Friday, police said. [redacted] was issued a $100 fine for possession of less than a half gram of marijuana when he was stopped by police in Springfield Plaza on Liberty Street at about 12:30 p.m., said Sgt. John M. Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet. The citation was issued by detective Jaime Bruno. [continues 218 words]
BOSTON - Law enforcement officials say there are many loopholes, unintended consequences and other problems in the new law that decriminalizes the possession of small amounts of marijuana. The law replaces criminal penalties for possessing an ounce or less of marijuana with a civil fine of $100, about the same as getting a traffic ticket. Sixty-five percent of Massachusetts' voters approved the ballot law on Nov. 4, and it takes effect on Jan. 2. Law enforcement officials still have many doubts about the law. Among the concerns are that some people will not be required to identify themselves if stopped for marijuana, that police officers cannot be disciplined for possessing an ounce of less of marijuana, and that state laboratories which test narcotics for criminal cases will no longer test small amounts of marijuana seized in a civil matter. [continues 838 words]
NORTHAMPTON - As they await the implementation of a ballot initiative that decriminalized the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana, police and prosecutors here remain uncertain what kind of adjustments they will have to make. About two-thirds of Bay State voters approved Question 2 on Tuesday's ballot, instituting a $100 fine for possession of marijuana in lieu of a criminal charge. Proponents of the measure argued that the civil fine was a more appropriate punishment for simple marijuana possession than a criminal record. [continues 340 words]
