Our metropolis is at a breaking level within the dependancy disaster. Residents reside with the day by day penalties of unchecked drug use: households discovering needles of their yards and parks, individuals sleeping in neighbors’ houses and automobiles, break-ins and trespassing, public urination and defecation, human trafficking, and shoplifting. The very last thing our metropolis wants is legalized protected injection websites.
On Sept. 15, the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Psychological Well being, Substance Use, and Restoration held a listening to on Invoice S1393, which might authorize protected injection websites. Boston already has probably the most intensive hurt discount applications within the nation, but neighborhoods stay overwhelmed by discarded needles and public drug exercise. Increasing into sanctioned injection websites will solely deepen the cycle of dependancy and destabilize our communities.
Early in September, practically 200 residents and stakeholders spoke at a Council listening to close to Mass and Cass, sharing the actual influence on their neighborhoods. The message was clear: Boston doesn’t want protected injection websites. We’d like actual restoration alternatives, accountability, and a treatment-first method.
The reply is to not normalize or incentivize drug use. The reply is to prioritize a Restoration Campus, broaden remedy entry, and ensure individuals scuffling with substance use dysfunction have an actual pathway out of dependancy. On the similar time, we should stand with the residents, households, and small companies who’re bearing the burden of this disaster daily.
I urge my colleagues to oppose protected injection websites and to face with residents whereas prioritizing a Restoration Campus as the actual path ahead.
Erin Murphy is a Boston Metropolis Councilor At-Massive
