Gov. council member proposes decriminalizing heroin

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Robert Jubinville

Gov. council member proposes decriminalizing heroin
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Owen Boss

Dismayed by the lack of progress in the ongoing effort to combat the growing opioid crisis in the Bay State, one member of Gov. Charlie Baker's Governor's Council is floating the idea of decriminalizing heroin use for addicts.

"One of the issues I see, because I'm in court every day and have been for years, is the lack of understanding about addiction by probation officials and judges in our court system," Governor's Councilor and defense attorney Robert Jubinville told the 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?"

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.

"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. "We wouldn't have any more dealers because they'd be out of business, 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."