Senator Galluccio Fails Breathalyzer Tests

Massachusetts State Senator Anthony D. Galluccio, sentenced recently to six months’ home confinement for an October 4 hit-and-run accident, failed a series of breathalyzer tests on Tuesday and attributed the results to his use of two brands of toothpastes.

Galluccio—who has represented Cambridge and several neighboring towns in the Massachusetts Senate since 2007—may face up to a year in jail in light of the test results, which may violate the terms of his probation, according to the Globe.

Galluccio claimed that the sugar alcohol sorbitol in two brands of toothpastes—Colgate Total Whitening and Sensodyne—caused him to fail the breathalyzer tests. He told the Globe that his low positive readings were registered over the course of an hour.

The Boston Herald subsequently tested the breath of someone who had used both toothpastes and found that while each showed immediate positive results, any trace of alcohol evaporated within two minutes of using the product. The Herald reported that it used a different brand of breathalyzer test than the court-issued one used by Gallucio.

Galluccio served 14 years on the Cambridge City Council before moving on to the State Senate, including a term as the youngest mayor the city has had since the adoption of the Plan E Charter in 1940. He has been convicted of driving under the influence twice before, according to the Globe, but refused to state whether he had been drinking before the October accident, which had injured two.

In addition to chairing the Higher Education Committee and serving on several other committees, Galluccio is a member of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Committee in the Senate.

Neither Gallucio nor his attorney answered requests for comment.

—Staff writer Julie M. Zauzmer can be reached at jzauzmer@college.harvard.edu.