Teen shot by cop during struggle in East Boston

By adamg on Wed, 07/23/2008 - 11:48pm

Shot in chest, in stable condition after the Princeton Street incident, Channel 4 reports.

Neighborhoods:

East Boston

Topics:

Crime

Free tagging:

Boston Police Department

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Comments

During a drug bust

By adamg
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 9:27am

The Globe has more.

shots fired

By Anonymous
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 12:25pm

From the Globe article:

The woman, who asked that her name not be used for fear of her safety, said she was in her home across the street when she heard gunshots.

"I ran downstairs and I saw him sitting there, saying: 'Why'd you do that, man? Why'd you do that?' " the woman said. She said the man was sitting in the passenger seat of the car and stood up only when emergency medical workers brought him into an ambulance.

It was a drug bust. They allegedly sell heroine out of the vehicle.

Heroin

By Michael
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 1:05pm

Unless you mean Wonder Woman or River Tam, in which case I'd change my hardline stance against the ice cream truck menaces of East Boston.

Had this young man been drinking beer instead of taking an illegal drug, the police likely would have peacefully arrested him or maybe just handed him a citation. Instead, the police came close to conducting an extrajudicial killing.

t's time to end the senseless 'war on drugs'.

AMEN

By Suldog
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 1:48pm

Far too many lives have been, and are, being ruined due to the profit motives. Take away the illegality, you take away the chance for obscene wads of cash. Take megabucks out of the equation, you take away most of the violence.

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

yes

By sheenaspleena
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 1:58pm

the war on drugs is too costly, with far too many casulaties. programs like DARE that brainwash kids are part of the poor effort too. I wish they'd end it & let the police & courts focus on violent offenders.

school zones are being

By sheenaspleena
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 2:00pm

school zones are being debated today because right now, people are charged with a more serious crime even if the intent to distribute or the purchase of drugs was not to a child.
I hope they change the zone.

also, schools are closed for the summer

By Ron Newman
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 2:05pm

so it makes no sense to charge anyone with a 'school zone'-related offense right now.

It makes sense beause this

By anon
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 3:02pm

It makes sense beause this leach on society may get a harsher penealty. Why don't you liberals stop talking about legalizing heroin and be thankful that the people tasked with protecting us didn't get hurt in this incident. Even if you don't beileve that drugs lead to violence at least admit that addicts steal to buy drugs. I hope your GPS's get stolen out of your Jetta by some crack head trying to score.

You are wrong. It is not a

By anon
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 3:11pm

You are wrong. It is not a Jetta, it is a Suburban Outback.

Liberals Legalizing Heroin?

By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 3:26pm

Um. No. Pot and E, on the other hand have been rated as far less dangerous to society than many legal drugs. Read this article on an expert rating of drug danger by law enforcement and health professionals.

You can talk about ending a stupid waste of money aimed at drugs that are safer than those which are currently legal without claiming that it would endanger all society if any are legal, or lying about which drugs rational people argue should be legalized.

Oh, and did it occur to you that addicts steal to buy drugs because 1) there aren't enough treatment beds, 2) they learn how to do it in jail for pot offenses and 3)illegality makes drugs expensive and uncontrolled?

The Lancet - mean harm rating by independent experts

By Anonymous
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 3:42pm

[img]http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42718000/gif...
'Harm' rating is medical harm to the individual who ingests the substance.

that's harm to those who

By sheenaspleena
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 3:47pm

that's harm to those who ingest the substance, not harm to the public.
alcohol is in the top 5, and that's legal.

Just because you went to

By anon
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 4:09pm

Just because you went to some liberal school and still smoke pot, does not mean you know what you are talking about. This article was about cops arresting a heroin abuser; by your chart, the most harmful drug. Take your liberal agenda to the hemp fest!

Quote from Comment

By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 4:21pm

For Your Reference, here is the comment that I was responding to:

Why don't you liberals stop talking about legalizing heroin and be thankful that the people tasked with protecting us didn't get hurt in this incident.

Could it possibly be said that the cops that are out there chasing pot users and "ecstatics" and their supply chain mean that fewer cops are out there to go after heroin issues? That said cops may be getting their arses shot off over a relatively benign drug (pot, e) made less benign by the money that follows prohibition?

But I'm just a public health professional, so I guess that disqualifies me from commenting on matters of public health, evidence-based research and policy, etc.

Tell us again, Swirly Girl,

By anon
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 4:25pm

Tell us again, Swirly Girl, what you resume is. I do not believe you have graced us with your credentials yet today.

Just because

By anon centrist
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 5:14pm

Just because you wing-nut tough guys like to wear your wives' dresses in private and diddle your neighbors kids is no justification for taking your anger out on commenters here and swirrly's accomplishment in academic studies. You seem to have trouble reading what people are posting and blast-off on some left-right tangential issue. Wheww, go home and the beat dog.

Don't Ask, Don't Smell

By SwirlyGrrl
Fri, 07/25/2008 - 1:06pm

Actual Quote from Resident Vitriolic Coward:

Just because you went to some liberal school and still smoke pot, does not mean you know what you are talking about.

Then, later on ...

Tell us again, Swirly Girl, what you resume is.

Lesson for Anon: if you don't want your nose rubbed in something, don't ask for it.

The person arrested was not

By anon
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 4:24pm

The person arrested was not some poor drug addicted soul. He was involved in a heroin distribution investigation and was charged with possessing a large amount of heroin. He was a drug dealer. Also, i have seen numerous times, on this site and others, that people are sent to prison for marijuana related offenses. Not true. If you are sent to jail for a marijuana related offense, it is because your record is lengthy and violent and/or you have repeatedly violated your terms of probation. NO ONE in Suffolk County is sent to county jail or state prison for possessing less than 52 pounds (trafficking weight) of marijuana. And Ron, you should read the news stories a little better. He was not killed by the police. He was well enough to be arraigned in court today.

Fact Remains

By Suldog
Fri, 07/25/2008 - 12:56pm

If you take the profit motive out of the equation, most of the violence goes with it. Yeah, there'll still be a few sick fucks willing to shoot you over a sawbuck, but most of the assholes are assholes because there are huge gains to be had. Illegality = Major Profit (if you're willing to take the risks and defend your turf.)

And there are plenty of folks in jail for marijuana possession, first offense, and they weren't holding a trunkload of shit. Yes, Massachusetts has relatively benign laws. That doesn't mean the entire country does. And it's the Feds who are driving this war, not the states.

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

I am surprised

By Gareth
Fri, 07/25/2008 - 1:30pm

That nobody has pointed out that the first assertion is less certain than we might like, given recent events.

Not to make light of an unfortunate situation, mind you. Just to point out that legalization might reduce drug war casualties, but would not eliminate them.

As usual, the devil is in the details

By anon
Fri, 07/25/2008 - 3:27pm

I'm for puppies and against the senseless war on drugs. But when we talk about legalizing drugs we usually mean legalizing drugs for adults. What about people who sell drugs to teens or teens who sell drugs? Should it be a citation to sell heroin to a teenager or for a teenager to buy or sell heroin? Wasn't this a teenage drug dealer?

But all that is too much to fit on the bumpersticker.

("Extrajudicial killing"? Wow! Another great bumpersticker analysis.(Count me in favor of a sensible war against ridiculous exaggeration.))

Sales to minors

By Ron Newman
Fri, 07/25/2008 - 4:11pm

We already have two fairly successful drug-control regimes in place, one for tobacco and one for alcohol. Both regimes work reasonably well, though not perfectly, and they do not lead to violence and killings and to lots of people wasting their lives away in prisons.

It is illegal to sell tobacco to anyone under 18, or to sell alcohol to anyone under 21 (though I think it should be lowered to 18). Similarly it can be illegal to sell any other drug to minors.