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Thursday, March 28, 2024

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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

MA: Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention

The city-run Engagement Center is a low-barrier day facility, which serves a few hundred people each day from the nearby
Engagement Center Finding Success Near Boston’s Troubled 'Mass and Cass'

Boston's 'Mass and Cass' area, with its large homeless population and open-air drug market, remains a trouble spot for city officials, but staff at …

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The synthetic opioid Fentanyl was present in 93% of the drug-overdose deaths in 2021 for which a toxicology screen was performed, according to the Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health. (Adobe Stock)
Narcan Trainers Enlist Public’s Help in Preventing MA Overdose Deaths

At libraries, colleges and even movie theaters, more people in Massachusetts are learning how to prevent an opioid overdose death by administering …

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Shatterproof founder and chief executive Gary Mendell addresses the Clinton Foundation, sharing his personal story of losing his son to addiction. (Shatterproof)
Pilot Plan Begins in MA to Rate Addiction-Treatment Centers

BOSTON - Massachusetts will be the first state to participate in a new, national system to rate addiction-treatment programs. The Massachusetts …

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While opioid overdoses are starting to decline in Massachusetts, fentanyl-related deaths have risen in 2018. (rebcenter-moscow/Pixabay)
Mass. Leads U.S. in Fentanyl Overdose Death Rate

BOSTON – Massachusetts reached an all-time high in fentanyl overdose deaths this year, according to new data from the state Department of …

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Massachusetts has the lowest rate of drug imprisonments of all states, but ranks 13th in the rate of overdose deaths. (Pixabay)
Report: Tougher Drug Laws Don’t Reduce Overdose Deaths

BOSTON - A new, 50-state study finds that putting more people in jail for drug offenses doesn't reduce drug use or overdose deaths. On Monday…

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As state lawmakers try to reconcile competing versions of Massachusetts' marijuana legalization bill, it now includes an amendment that promotes racial diversity in the pot business. (Fimansyah/Flickr)
Lawmakers Face Dueling Versions of Marijuana Legalization

BOSTON – State lawmakers are working against an end-of-month deadline to try to reconcile two competing versions of the marijuana legalization b…

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Supporter of the new state law legalizing adult possession of marijuana in the Bay State are concerned about lawmakers possibly doing away with key parts of it, including a home-grow provision. (A7nubis/Wikimedia Commons)
Will Lawmakers "Honor the People's Will" on New Marijuana Law?

BOSTON — Bay State voters approved a ballot measure legalizing adult possession of marijuana earlier this month - and lawmakers are already disc…

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The future of mandatory minimum sentencing is now in the hands of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. (Swampyank/English Wikipedia)
Test Case Tackles Commonwealth's Mandatory Minimum Sentences

BOSTON - It is now up to the state's highest court to determine whether a judge in a drug case can impose a sentence lower than the mandatory minimum…

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Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez is among House members who gave unanimous support to a measure that aims to reduce abuse of prescription painkillers. (Office of Rep. Sanchez)
Mass. House Bill Aims to Curb Flow of Millions of Painkillers

BOSTON - State lawmakers passed a measure in the House this week that would limit the prescriptions that most doctors write for pain medications to a …

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PHOTO: Electronic cigarettes, hookah pens, e-hookahs and vape pipes are growing in popularity in Massachusetts, but experts say there isn’t enough science about how safe they are. Credit: Michael Dorausch, Wikimedia Commons.
A Cigarette By Any Other Name: E-Cig Concern in Commonwealth

BOSTON - Electronic cigarettes - also known as e-hookahs, hookah pens and vape pipes - are growing in popularity in Massachusetts. Celebrities in …

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PHOTO: The Brockton Neighborhood Health Center is one of 35 such centers to receive a total of $3,448,106 in federal money to reach out to and enroll uninsured and under-insured Commonwealth residents.
MA Health Centers Get $3.4 Million to Reach Out To More Patients

BOSTON - The federal government is giving 35 community health centers in the Commonwealth a total of more than $3.4 million to better reach uninsured …

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PHOTO: All across the nation the rising health care costs is a challenge for many.
Happy Birthday, Medicare

BOSTON - Happy Birthday, Medicare! On July 30, 1965, President Johnson signed into law the bill providing low-cost hospitalization and medical …

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