Politics

Crazy Attorney On The Governor’s Council Wants To Legalize Heroin And Give It To Addicts After They’ve Committed Crimes

The opiate addiction epidemic has ruined many, many lives around the country and especially here in New England over the last several years.  Millions of people have chimed in on the topic and have proposed various theories as to how we can try and prevent or diminish the stronghold that heroin and other opiates has on our children and our society.

While there is obviously no way to completely eradicate the tremendous drug problem we currently have in our culture, politicians and citizens alike feel like if we tweak the laws a little in certain areas, we might be able to help some addicts get clean quickly, and prevent others from becoming addicts in the first place.

A common theory that some people have subscribed to in hopes of winning the war on drugs, is the immediate legalization of all narcotics. In my own personal opinion, marijuana should’ve been legal a long time ago, but it might be a stretch to just up and legalize some of the other, much more potent drugs right away. Many disagree with my take, and feel as though decriminalizing all drugs immediately is the way to go. It is a debate that many people on both sides of the fence continue to discuss feverishly.

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Governor’s Councilman and defense attorney Robert Jubinville instructs his client Ovando Eghill to plead guilty during his trial on Martha’s Vineyard

 

However, the craziest theory I have heard yet, was unleashed today by a prominent defense attorney on Governor Charlie Baker’s Council. This member of the Governor’s Council (whose salary is funded by taxpayers) and renowned crazy person Robert Jubinville told the Boston Herald today – “Let’s assume there’s a methadone clinic in every courthouse. If somebody is brought in under arrest for possession of heroin, and the doctor for the court says, ‘yes, they’re addicted,’ we can give them the option of putting the charges on hold if they go downstairs and start with the methadone clinic and if they complete the program within two years those charges will be dropped. Why couldn’t we do that?”

 

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While I do sympathize with many heroin addicts, this man is insane.  Yet he continues to be a prominent member of the Council, and I am still confident that Charlie Baker is a better governor than Deval Patrick ever was.  Jubinville said he sent out a letter today detailing his plan to get more addicts out of jail and into treatment to House Speaker Robert DeLeo, Senate President Stanley Rosenberg and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito in the hopes of “starting a dialogue” among local lawmakers.

Here comes the real insanity from Jubinville –

Why can’t they walk into a public health facility and say, ‘look, I’m a heroin addict,’ and they say, ‘we’ll give you at least enough today so you don’t have to steal, or break into a house and get arrested and you can come back tomorrow and get some more?” Jubinville asked. “Crime rates would tumble, 80 percent of what is going through our courts would cease and people would not be losing their license and getting a CORI record that prevents them from getting employment.”

 

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That’s just a crazy idea Bob.  Giving free heroin away at public health facilities?! And after heroin addicts commit crimes, we will offer them more heroin and not charge them?! As long as they promise not to break into houses?!!?  That should work well. As long as they “walk into a public health facility and claim they are an addict, we will give you ‘enough for today”.   Let me know how that works out.

Having the state take over the operation of methadone clinics and having one available to addicts in every courthouse, Jubinville said, will go a long way toward keeping them out of jail and getting them into treatment centers.

 

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I hear from sitting DAs, elected DAs, who come to the Governor’s Council and others who say ‘we’re not going to arrest our way out of this issue’ and I say, ‘why are we still arresting people? Why don’t you send an order down saying stop arresting these people?’ ” Jubinville said.

The offer of help rather than jail wouldn’t be offered to everyone who is arrested for a drug-related offense, Jubinville stressed, and could help prevent more serious crimes from ever taking place.

“When a heroin addict breaks into a house or kills someone, they’re not going to get leniency. But we can stop the breaking in, stop the crime committing, if heroin addicts had the ability to go into a public health facility and get what they needed … If they can get it for nothing and not get arrested, that’s where they’re going to go.”

Bob – let me be the first to say I am not qualified to be on Charlie Baker’s Council, but if you think giving free drugs to addicts – no questions asked –  after they’ve committed crimes is going to help, then rest assured we are all in trouble.

15 Comment(s)
  • Davidsl
    August 6, 2015 at 7:34 pm

    I have zero tolerance for users and even less pity, but instead of enabling the addiction – regardless of the substitute offering – why not consider instant detox. In less than 24 hrs, the addict is cured. No pain. No withdrawal. Virtually impossible to get hooked again. It’s expensive but still less expensive than a lifetime of agony for taxpayers footing the bill for myriad crimes, multiple arrests, jail/prison, rehab, rehab, rehab, jail, jail, death…

    My home has been broken into, my tenant’s home has been broken into, because we’re all at work. And we didn’t bother calling the cops either. What’s the point? We’re all on notice: we can’t arrest our way out of this mess.

    • janie jones
      August 6, 2015 at 10:53 pm

      You’re right. Zero tolerance is absolutely how we should all handle addiction. Unfortunately there is no easy way out of it. I would’ve loved to do an instant detox from pain meds but I didn’t have the $15,000 for the treatment. Yes the rapid detox will alleviate the physical symptoms but does nothing to rewrite the pathways in the brain that dictate the behavior of an addict. It does nothing to change the people an addict associates with. It does nothing to change the legal standing of an addict. It does nothing to fix the other medical symptoms addiction is associated with such as AIDS, hepatitis, thrombosis, liver/kidney damage, skin disease, rotted teeth and so on. I know you’re disgusted and I feel your anger. I know it seems like an endless cycle of rehab and jail but there is no easy one stop cure. I feel your frustration and I agree with you whole heartedly. So if you think about it, once you’ve paid the tab for one stop detox, now you have to pay the tab for all of the above that I have mentioned. I don’t know many working class people who have the disposable income to pay for this. It may be the honorable way to keep one’s own problem of addiction out of the taxpayers pocket but until people like you and I vote on a candidate who will support new legislation to make it feasible for the average person to afford this and all the follow up treatment, the system we have (as broken as it is) is the best we can do. Of course this is my opinion, I could be wrong.

    • J.J.
      August 8, 2015 at 10:24 am

      Please don’t lump all addicts together. I myself am in recovery and have been for 4 and 1/2 years. I was started on painkillers by my physician after suffering chronic back pain and before I knew it I was addicted to opiates. I literally lost everything from my apt, car, marriage, my soul. I ended up homeless and eventually pregnant by my ex-husband who left me to my own devices. I ended up getting in legal trouble and begged my family and the judge to section me to a detox. Because I was pregnant I was put on methadone so that my son would not have to go through withdrawal while in utero(if a mother is withdrawing then the baby withdraws and could potentially cause a miscarriage). I spent a year graduating from detox, 2 drug rehab programs, then a sober living program where I eventually moved on to living on my own with my healthy, beautiful, and intelligent son. I am now off of methadone, have a great job, wonderful boyfriend, and supportive friends and family. I am not proud of things that I have done in my past but they have helped to shape me into the person that I have become today.

      Though I have been drug through the hells of addiction and the beauty that comes with recovery, I still hurt for the people out there that cannot come out of the cycle of addiction. One cannot look at a drug addict and feel distain for them without knowing where their addiction came from. Many factors come into play when one falls into addiction, whether it is a socio/demographic issue, predisposition through genetics, or mental health issues, among many others, we have to look at the root of the problem and start at square one. What may work for one addict may not work for another. Believe me, I know there are plenty of scum bags out there that will feed of others insecurities and enable another to make bad decisions, but not all addicts are like that.

      I know that some of you may not agree with my view or my suggestions and that is your right. But before you judge, think about how you would feel and what you would do if your son/daughter, husband/wife, mother/father became addicted? Sit and let it simmer and get back to me because one would never know what is like to live in another’s world without first experiencing themselves.

      B.T.W., my little guy will be turning 4 at the end of this month and sometimes I look at him and feel saddened by the fact that he had to deal with adult issues before he was born, but I also look at him running around chasing butterflies and experiencing his worry free life with nothing but happiness and love and he makes me so proud every second of every day.

      That is my story, Thank you for reading. I hope it helps someone else. 🙂

  • Janie jones
    August 6, 2015 at 2:17 pm

    They do this in Europe and it has dropped the overall crime rates about 11%.This is how it works…. 1- A user will enter a secure facility/clinic with their daily fix and it is exchanged for an equal amount of Dilaudid with a clean hypodermic syringe. 2- The user must remain in the facility/clinic for medical obsevation (so they don’t overdose). 3- A user can not leave the facility/clinic with any narcotic or drug paraphenaelia. 4- Everytime a user enters they are given the option for rehab treatment instead of continuing their addiction. In Europe they do use methadone and suboxone; same as us but are moving to a newer drug called Lofexadine. Apparently it is a non-narcotic blocker that works the same as methadone and suboxone without the addictive properties. In Protland, OR. They are trying this method and having some success however, the problem seems to be with the insurance companies paying for treatment. Now I don’t know if this is a solution and I’m sure there is much more too it than what I have described but at the very least it is effort. An 11% drop in crime may not seem like much but in fact it is huge. AIDS, Hepatitis and other hypodermic transfered disease numbers are also down as are overdose deaths. I’ve had four surgeries on my back and getting off the painkillers was the absolute hardest obstacle to overcome. I am empathic toward the plight of an addict but like you said Dude, We should absolutly NOT enable. So is this the way to go??? I don’t know. Of course this is my opinion, I could be wrong.

    • Dude
      August 6, 2015 at 3:25 pm

      They have places like this n the US, and they do all the same stuff except give out the actual drug. They give them a safe place to shoot up, clean needles and such, offer a place to crash while they are high, and have medical staff available in case something goes wrong. I liked the idea of those locations, it keeps them off the street. Needles are disposed of properly and because they are offered clean, fresh needles, diseases such as HEP and AIDS are transmitted less. They also offer rehab services for any that want it for free. The only difference is they do not offer the drug itself, and do not allow the sale or exchange of the drug on the property. I like the idea better that they can’t acquire the drug at those places, that’s where I would like to see the line.

      • Janie jones
        August 6, 2015 at 5:18 pm

        Yeah I don’t think they should allow the “trade in” of heroin for dilaudid either. Thats definitely enabling. I had five disks removed from my back over the course of a year and was on oxycodone for about four years until I decided that I did not need it and weened myself off. It took a few months and was awful. I went through the physical and mental withdrawl but I got through it and feel great today. At that time, doctors were aggressively using heavy painkillers to treat every bump and bruise because that was what the “recommended” treatment was. Most likely from the pharmecutical companies lobbying with the insurance companies in an unholy alliance to make big money off the misery of the unsuspecting American population. They were paying doctors huge money to be pretty much a “legal” drug dealer. I t’s true but what it comes down to is the accountability of the person themselves. No one forced you to swallow that pill or snort/ shoot junk. It all comes down to the individual. Yes my doctor prescribed me painkillers but I was the one who chose to take them just as I was the one who chose to get off them. People are too quick to blame doctors 100%. Yes they should be more responsible but its up to the individual.

  • Dude
    August 6, 2015 at 12:14 pm

    I am very much in favor of sending addicts to rehab instead of jail, for 1st or 2nd time offenders. After that, you are a lost cause and should just go to jail. The second part, the whole giving out daily supplies of heroin, terrible idea. The point is to get them off the stuff, not enable.

  • Jack
    ChuskUSA
    August 6, 2015 at 10:04 am

    Considering the so-called ” War on Drugs ” , was lost many years ago. I had friends who were heroin addicts and dying back in 71. That’s a long time ago and things have not gotten any better. So his idea is not that out-there at all. Seems like they tried just about everything else, nothing works much !

  • Devils Mouthpiece
    August 6, 2015 at 9:53 am

    Only in MA… Two more years and I’m outta this disaster of a state.

  • Money bags
    August 6, 2015 at 9:33 am

    Sure why not? The snobs on the west side can foot the bill , after all they’ve benefited from white privlege all these years, it’s not like they’ve worked for what they have. They’d be addicts too if they made bad decisions , btw I can stop a break in! I’m fucking home today’ come try to break in! see how it works out

  • Publius
    August 6, 2015 at 9:28 am

    The Governor has nothing to do with who is on the Governor’s Council. In fact, Deval Patrick was Governor when this guy was elected as a Democrat. It is scary to think people believe the Governor has any say who serves on the Council.

    • Wabbitt
      wabbitt
      August 6, 2015 at 10:04 am

      Well, until Jordan Levy ran for it awhile back and made part of his campaign about what the council actually does – nobody in Worcester even knew the damn thing existed.

      • oneopinion
        hanginpossum
        August 6, 2015 at 9:21 pm

        Levy rambles a bit but I learn something every time I tune in.

  • Money bags
    August 6, 2015 at 9:26 am

    Sure why not? The snobs on the west side can foot the bill , after all they’ve benefited from white privlege all these years, it’s not like they’ve worked for what they have. They’d be addicts too if they made bad decisions

  • Brendan Rys
    Beej
    August 6, 2015 at 9:02 am

    Governor’s Council is an elected position – Charlie Baker didn’t appoint this guy.

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