Testifies before Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery in strong opposition to legislation legalizing such facilities
Senator Nick Collins, representing the First Suffolk District and a member of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use, and Recovery, testified on Monday, September 15, in opposition, alongside residents of the South End, to bills that would legalize deadly drugs and regulate safe injection sites in Massachusetts.
“At this inflection point in the crisis facing the South End and neighborhoods across Boston, safe injection sites are not a mitigation factor. They risk accelerating the trafficking of drugs, increasing human exploitation, and compounding illegal gun violence,” said Senator Collins. “Nobody should mistake enabling a facility that further encourages illicit behavior as progress. We have to do better than that.”
Over the past four years, Boston has seen over 1,000 overdose deaths. These fatalities underscore the severity of the opioid epidemic in our streets and communities. They are not just statistics but a stark reality for families across Boston. What the numbers do not capture is the ripple effect, the countless lives upended by the sudden loss of a parent, child, or sibling to a disease we know we can manage more effectively.
Meanwhile, stories from the ground reflect the urgency of this crisis. In South Boston, the news of a child injured by a discarded hypodermic needle sparked alarm. Residents of Roxbury and the South End spoke with the same sense of urgency at a recent City Council hearing, making clear that the degradation of their neighborhoods’ streets is unacceptable.
Together, these voices show that communities across Boston are watching closely and demanding bold action, not experiments that may exacerbate the very problems we face. It is time to channel that vigilance into legislation that lowers barriers to treatment and strengthens recovery, such as S1042, An Act Relative to Life Saving Treatment.
There is also mounting evidence from studies that shortened or interrupted treatment for opioid use disorder is associated with worse outcomes, including higher risk of overdose. According to studies at Duke University, even individuals placed under sustained outpatient commitments achieve better long-term outcomes, including fewer hospitalizations and stronger adherence to treatment, than those without such conditions of release. These findings reinforce the importance of continuity and accountability in care, the very principles behind reforms that expand remote court access, ensure evaluation after an overdose, and require judicial oversight before an early discharge from treatment. These are practical steps that can keep people in care longer and give recovery a real chance to take hold.
We need to prioritize intervention and treatment if we are to turn the tide on this unrelenting epidemic.