On the heels of a report by Boston 25 that detailed increased concerns about illegal drug activity in the South End, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu acknowledged the problem in an interview on GBH’s Boston Public Radio while also asserting that progress has been made when it comes to curbing drug use at Mass and Cass, the city’s longtime epicenter for homelessness and drug activity.
“I want to just be very clear that the stories that I’ve heard, and I’ve been out in the neighborhood and in meetings with many of the residents who have been living in the South End for years and what they are reporting and what particularly those families with children are reporting having to explain to their kids or worry about with their kids, it’s unacceptable and we are doing everything that we can to continue to get at this challenge,” Wu said.
“It’s complex and hard dealing with a national opiate crisis at the local level as one city,” Wu added. “We have made some really significant, real progress on this front … Compare now to four years ago before our administration had started. We now have a real infrastructure in place to provide an actual pathway to get people off the streets into treatment and housing and job counseling, and we have seen hundreds of people move off the streets and are now in permanent, supportive housing.”…