The scourge of the opioid crisis continues to ravage the state, and nowhere is it more visible than in the notorious open-air illicit drug market known as Mass. and Cass.
By closing time, the floor of Bone Up Brewing Co. was covered in spilled beer, neon-orange cheeseballs, and drops of blood (both real and fake). These are the signs of a successful US Air Guitar competition.
On Atkinson Street, a short walk from Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, the epicenter of the dueling opioid and homelessness crises, overdoses are a harsh day-to-day reality.