In three Massachusetts cities that ‘decriminalized’ psychedelics, police say public health was already prioritized over enforcement, and arrest volume was low
Updated 6:00 AM;
In Northampton, it should be the lowest priority of police to investigate, or arrest any person for planting, purchasing, possessing or in other ways interacting with entheogenic plants, the City Council declared two weeks ago.
In Cambridge, no city official should use public resources to enforce laws banning entheogens, or natural psychedelics, the City Council there said in early February, following a similar resolution in Somerville two weeks prior.
But interviews with police officials in Northampton and Cambridge indicate that, regardless of intent, the resolutions generally had no significant effect on law enforcement operations. In both cases, police said they already didn’t prioritize enforcing bans on hallucinogens by making arrests or investigating low-level drug possession. The Somerville P
Bicyclist seriously injured in Marlborough crash
MARLBOROUGH A bicyclist suffered serious injuries Tuesday evening after being struck by a pickup truck while trying to cross the road near Mechanic and Lincoln streets, authorities said.
The 34-year-old man was flown to UMass-Memorial Medical Center in Worcester by a medical rescue helicopter after first being treated at a local hospital.
Neither Marlborough police nor the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office knew the man’s condition on Wednesday morning.
The man was trying to cross the street about 5:51 p.m., police spokesman Sgt. Zachary Attaway said Wednesday.
A GMC pickup truck driving northbound on Mechanic Street collided with the bicyclist. The pickup s driver stayed at the scene of the crash, Attaway said.
Published February 26, 2014
BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts prosecutors have announced the arrest of 83-year-old former Boston-area gang boss Howie Winter, a predecessor of James Whitey Bulger as head of the Winter Hill Gang in the 1960s and 70s, on attempted extortion and conspiracy charges.
The Middlesex District Attorney s office said Winter, of Milbury, and 70-year-old James Melvin of Braintree were arrested Thursday night. They are accused of attempting to extort $35,000 from each of two individuals who had arranged a $100,000 business loan for a third man last fall.
Prosecutors said the alleged victims began getting threatening phone calls after the borrower stopped making payments in January.
Two men arrested in burglary spree in several Mass towns bostonglobe.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bostonglobe.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Man dies after pickup truck crashes into brick wall in Massachusetts
Updated 12:31 PM;
A man in his 40s died Monday morning after crashing his pickup truck into a brick wall in Massachusetts, authorities said.
Lowell police responded to the fatal crash involving a white Dodge Ram on Gorham Street in the city, according to a joint statement from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and the Lowell Police Department.
The man was driving the Dodge Ram inbound in the area of Gorham Street and the Lowell Connector when he crashed into the wall, the statement said.
He was taken to an area hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. The man, who was 42 years old, was the sole occupant and driver of the truck, authorities noted.