Syringe Metropolis: Boston fingers out 4.5 million needles to drug customers throughout Mayor Wu’s tenure

The Metropolis of Boston handed out greater than 4.5 million needles to drug customers through the first four-year time period of Mayor Michelle Wu, as a part of her administration’s harm-reduction strategy to tackling the Mass and Cass open-air drug market.

The Boston Public Health Fee disclosed its median syringe distribution monthly for 2022 by Oct. 31, 2025, in response to a Herald public information request.

The info present that town handed out 106,632 needles monthly in 2022, which quantities to almost 1.28 million within the first 12 months of the Wu administration; 104,702 monthly, or greater than 1.25 million in 2023; 96,016 monthly and greater than 1.15 million in 2024, and 84,572 monthly, or 845,720 thus far this 12 months, as Oct. 31.

The 2025 numbers put town on tempo to exceed the 1 million syringe distribution mark once more this 12 months, at greater than 1.01 million, per metropolis information.

Whereas the 2025 numbers are down from the primary three years of the Wu administration, they’re increased than what Boston Public Health Commissioner Bisola Ojikutu reported to the Boston Metropolis Council in early September. On the time, Ojikutu stated town distributes 81,112 needles on common monthly to drug customers.

The Public Health Fee, in its information response, declined to supply figures for the way a lot town is spending on distributing needles to drug customers annually, however stated that it collects extra syringes by varied applications than it distributes.

“Regarding yearly distribution costs, BPHC does not receive city appropriated funds for the purpose of syringe distribution,” BPHC Assistant Common Counsel Javier Salas wrote. “The funds that we use come from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and therefore we do not have any responsive records.”

Nevertheless, a take a look at town finances and a previous Boston Public Health Fee request for proposals and quote for hurt discount provides sheds mild on what town spends annually on needle distribution.

The Fee’s finances line for “risk reduction and overdose prevention” was accepted at simply north of $2 million for this fiscal 12 months, FY26. The BPHC despatched out a request for proposals for hurt discount provides in Might 2024 that famous “the annual expenditure on supplies is approximately in the range of $1 million.”

Since fiscal 12 months 2023, the Metropolis of Boston has obtained tens of millions of {dollars} from the state for its hurt discount, therapy and restoration efforts, as a part of an opioid settlement with pharmaceutical firms. The metropolis will obtain not less than $40 million by 2039, which incorporates greater than $14.7 million from FY23 by the present fiscal 12 months, in response to a spreadsheet on the state web site.

BPHC’s request for proposals included different gadgets past needles within the class of hurt discount provides handed out by town, amongst them: condoms and dental dams for safer intercourse, tourniquets, cotton pellets, saline and private hygiene gadgets.

The Public Health Fee, whereas together with an in depth record of hurt discount provides in its request for proposals, took concern with the Herald’s request for information on what number of crack pipes and different drug paraphernalia it distributes.

Relatively than present the knowledge as a part of its information response, the Public Health Fee belittled the Herald’s chosen language.

“BPHC objects to the use of the terms: ‘crack pipes and other drug paraphernalia,” Salas wrote. “Smoking pipes is an overdose prevention technique that makes it much less doubtless for individuals to overdose in comparison with injections. Pipes are additionally higher for public security as a result of they don’t pose a biohazard threat to the general public if discarded improperly.

“To the extent you are requesting pipe distribution information, BPHC does not have reliable data to report accurate figures, which are only available in limited numbers,” Salas wrote, including that he was rejecting the request for “other drug paraphernalia” as a result of it being “vague” and “broad.”

The newly-released needle information comes at a time when residents in neighborhoods taxed by the open-air drug use, dealing and associated crime that’s spilled over from the troubled intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard are begging for a police crackdown and considering transferring out of security considerations.

Residents, significantly within the South Finish, have complained in regards to the well being and security threat discarded needles pose to their youngsters at parks and playgrounds, and to their canines out for walks with them across the neighborhood.

A 4-year-old boy needed to bear HIV testing this previous summer time after stepping on a discarded needle at a South Boston park.

A person spoke at a South Finish public security assembly final month of getting to Narcan his canine who was overdosing from a discarded needle with drug residue, and suggested others to hold the lifesaving overdose drug when strolling their very own pets within the neighborhood — a hot-spot space for spillover from Mass and Cass.

Ojikutu defended town’s hurt discount strategy at a Metropolis Council assembly in early September, as key to warding off HIV and different ailments which might be generally unfold by shared needles used for drug injection.

“If you consider the number of times someone is using fentanyl — it’s 10 to 15 injections per day,” Ojikutu stated. “We are trying to decrease the risk of HIV exposure.”