Many of these laws dictate mandatory prison terms and require that the full minimum term be served. It is illegal to be present where heroin is kept and to be in the company of a person known to possess heroin. Anyone in the presence of heroin at a private party risks a serious drug conviction. Sale and possession of drug paraphernalia is also illegal in Massachusetts. It is illegal in Massachusetts to aid or abet a person under the age of 18 in dispensing, distributing, or possessing with the intent to distribute or sell a controlled substance.
Conviction leads to a minimum five year prison term.
Persons convicted of drug possession under state or federal Law may be ineligible for student grants and loans for up to one year after the first conviction and five years after the second. The penalty for distributing drugs is loss of eligibility for five years after the first conviction, ten years after the second, and permanently after the third conviction.