Amid the Mass and Cass open-air drug use, dealing and crime that has spilled into different Boston neighborhoods, the Herald requested its readers in a current ballot if metropolis officers have finished sufficient to deal with opioid epidemic.
Herald readers responded with a transparent declaration that they haven’t.
Of the 156 respondents, 81.4% agreed that metropolis officers have let the opioid epidemic in Boston get uncontrolled.
Solely 5% of respondents stated metropolis officers had finished sufficient, deciding on “yes, it’s a chronic issue.”
One other 9.6% stated the state ought to take motion and three.8% chosen “I’m afraid of it spreading.”
These ballot outcomes coincide with a Metropolis Corridor technique shift indicated by a Wu administration official Thursday at a debate on hurt discount.
Kellie Younger stated town is contemplating a pivot away from its hurt discount technique – a method that at present, partially, entails handing out 80,000 needles every month to drug customers to advertise safer intravenous drug use.
The technique has drawn controversy throughout Mayor Michelle Wu’s first time period, with critics claiming the coverage has exacerbated the open-air drug market and officers’ asserting that it combats the unfold of illnesses like HIV and AIDS that come from intravenous drug use.
Boston Metropolis Councilor Erin Murphy additionally introduced final week a push for an emergency listening to following a researcher’s evaluation claiming 3-1-1 needle reviews in Boston are up 20% from final yr and greater than 75% since 2022.
Native researcher James Piccirilli discovered that needles are being discarded all through town, at the same time as Mass and Cass stays the epicenter.
The spillover from Mass and Cass into different neighborhoods has not gone unnoticed by residents, with many South Finish group members decrying circumstances. The neighborhood’s drug use, dealing and crime has some residents saying they see shifting out as the one approach for them to really feel protected once more.
