More than 17,000 requests for needle pick-ups since 2015: Boston neighborhoods most affected by the opioid crisis

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Needle collection. Photo by Jordan Erb.

311 data from the City of Boston shows the number of requests for needle pick-ups has steadily increased over the past five years, now totaling over 17,000. The needles are but a quantifier of a bigger problem, a numerable proxy for a larger issue: the nation’s opioid crisis.