Councilor reconsiders injection sites
‘We have to explore every tool in the toolbox’
City Councilor At-Large Annissa Essaibi-George said she’ll reconsider her opposition to controversial safe injection sites as the Hub grapples with an “explosion” of opioid abuse and unrest along the so-called “Methadone Mile.”
“This is an explosion of this crisis,” Essaibi-George said about the spike in violence and drug abuse along the area in Boston near the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard.
The issue has come to a head following the attack of an off-duty corrections officer last week. Law enforcement responded with Operation Clean Sweep, arresting 19 people and collecting buckets of syringes.
“I think we have to explore every tool in the toolbox,” said Essaibi-George, who chairs the City Council’s substance abuse committee and once strongly opposed supervised injection sites. The supervised facilities allow addicts to shoot up in a hygienic, controlled environment while reducing drug use on public streets.
“I think it’s important for me as a city councilor, as an elected official, and as chair of this committee to explore all of the these options and these opportunities for potential recovery for people who are dealing with substance-use disorders,” said Essaibi-George.
The councilor said she will visit a secure injection site in Toronto later this month to see the center and its impact on the surrounding neighborhood.
Boston has seen a skyrocketing number of abandoned hypodermic needles and demand for recovery beds as the opioid crisis continues and a number of addicts come to the city for help, said Essaibi-George.
The former school teacher, who already visited a secure injection center in Vancouver, said she still has about sites.
“I went to Vancouver and I was not impressed,” she said, adding that the centers need to do more than just provide a safe space to shoot up if the city wants to combat addiction.
“I believe safe injection does save lives,” she added Thursday. “If anyone is overdosing in a safe recovery site, their lives are being saved, but there is no work toward recovery in Vancouver.”
Essaibi-George said she’s also open to exploring marijuana’s role in terms of pain relief to help prevent opioid addiction.
“Cannabis is a tool that should be explored prior to the writing of a prescription when we’re thinking about pain management,” she said.
Regardless, the exploding addiction crisis has strained Hub services and EssaibiGeorge said she’s open to all potential fixes.
“We have to acknowledge that Boston is bearing the brunt of this crisis, and that the systems in place to do this work are breaking down,” said Essaibi-George. “We need help.”