Boston City Council Approves Liquor License Upgrade Option, Rejects Safe Injection Site Resolution

BOSTON — September 24, 2025 — Boston City Council voted 9-1 to adopt a local option allowing wine and malt licensees to convert to all-alcohol permits, while rejecting 8-3 a resolution opposing safe injection sites. Councillor Gabriela Coletta Zapata, chairing the Committee on Government Operations, guided docket 1411 to passage, explaining the measure lets businesses trade existing malt and wine licenses — approximately 375 are currently issued citywide — for non-transferable all-alcohol licenses through the state Alcohol Beverage Control Commission. Councillor Edward M. Flynn cast the lone no vote, saying data on the 89 affected licenses in his district arrived at 11:52 a.m., minutes before the noon gavel. On the safe injection site resolution filed by Flynn and co-sponsored by Councillors Erin J. Murphy and John FitzGerald, opponents led by Councillors Sharon Durkan and Benjamin J. Weber argued peer-reviewed research supports overdose prevention centers, while Councillor Coletta Zapata cited medical experts who said such sites could save Boston an estimated $4 million annually in downstream health costs. The council also unanimously passed a home rule petition to waive the maximum police recruit age for Dorchester resident Luisa Fernandez, 44, who is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and Cape Verdean Creole.