Boston Council Panel Demands Reinstatement of Syringe Buyback Program Cut Last Year

BOSTON -- April 1, 2025, Boston council members pressed health officials to restore a cash-for-syringes program that collected nearly 5 million needles before being cut last June. At an April 1 hearing of the Committee on Public Health, Homelessness and Recovery, Councilors John FitzGerald, Erin J. Murphy, and Edward M. Flynn argued the Community Syringe Redemption Program, which cost $1,226,472 in its final fiscal year and was funded through federal ARPA dollars, should be restored through the city's own budget. Boston Public Health Commission Commissioner Dr. Basil Ojakutu defended ending the program on cost and congregation grounds, noting all existing collection programs combined cost $958,301, and said the BPHC has assembled roughly $300,000 for new initiatives including a workforce pilot at city shelters and an expanded New Market BID cleanup operation. Co-founder Ali Hunter countered that 311 syringe-complaint calls dropped 50 percent while the program ran and that a one-day-per-week self-funded pilot in late 2024 still produced measurable reductions, adding that $300,000 could fund one site five days a week. Flynn said residents at a recent Worcester Square Neighborhood Association meeting described needle litter as worse than they had ever seen.