Boston’s “Methadone Mile” is notorious for its high concentration of addicts, drug dealers, public sex, prostitutes, violent criminals, overdose victims, homeless people and a veritable candy store of narcotics. The streets of Mass and Cass are used as a public toilet.
Cleaning up the Mile, however, is a common campaign promise by Boston’s liberal politicians, even though they continue to demonstrate an inability or reluctance to handle the problem. A rehab center on Long Island, safe injection zones, methadone clinics and police sweeps are just some of the quick fix remedies advocated by these lawmakers. Despite these efforts, the humanitarian tragedy that plagues the once-great communities ruined by the Mile continues.
To solve the problem of Methadone Mile, it is necessary to target the drugs and the people who sell them. There were 71,238 deaths in the United States attributable to synthetic opioids (fentanyl), with 2,290 of those deaths occurring in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, tackling the heart of the problem contradicts the progressive political philosophy espoused by local and state lawmakers, supported by the ACLU.
In what one could say is China’s reverse opium war against the United States, chemicals that create fentanyl are imported from China to cartels in Mexico for manufacturing. Fentanyl is trafficked through the wide-open U.S.-Mexico southern border. In a 2021 interview with “Face the Nation,” Anne Milgram, the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said that authorities have confiscated enough fentanyl over the past year to “kill every single American.” Only a few weeks ago, on Aug. 26, Customs and Border Protection agents in Arizona seized enough fentanyl to kill 42 million people. All are entering via Vice President Kamala Harris’s “secure” southern border. We’ve tracked down the source of the lethal drug and established its identity. Have you ever heard progressive Democratic leaders in Boston implore the federal government to do something about our border, which is a major contributor to the opioid problem in Boston and throughout Massachusetts? Obviously not, since securing the borders isn’t on their list of progressive priorities.
Fentanyl in amounts sufficient to kill every American wouldn’t be able to cross our border freely if this were the case. None of the drugs that enter the United States do so without the help of smugglers, the vast majority of whom are here illegally. However, these illegal immigrants may rest easy knowing that Boston is a sanctuary city and that they are safe from deportation. To make matters even more convenient for their drug trafficking operations, the Massachusetts state legislature has declared that they are allowed to get driver’s licenses.
Both controversial previous Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins and unsuccessful progressive candidate for district attorney Ricardo Arroyo had a vision of criminal justice that was a gift to criminals. Drug possession and distribution were both on Rollins’ infamous “do not prosecute” list. To let drug dealers, who should all be locked up for lengthy terms, keep doing what they love to do without fear of repercussions. Why? because it’s the progressive thing to do. Despite retracting her support for Arroyo, Mayor Michelle Wu ultimately voted for him because, as she put it, “it was about positions.”
Open borders, sanctuary cities, no prosecution of drug dealers and the now-covert attitude towards defunding the police are all progressive positions. Boston residents should keep putting pressure on their politicians to fix the Methadone Mile, but they should also consider electing candidates who don’t espouse harmful ideas that will destroy our city.
Rasheed Walters is an entrepreneur, political commentator and historian. He is a member of Project 21, and resides in Boston. Follow him on Twitter @rasheednwalters.
