Residents say they would prefer the city take a proactive, recovery-first approach to the addiction crisis around Mass. and Cass.

But in response to multiple questions at a meeting this week, the head of the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) said the organization will not switch to a recovery-focused policy.

The South End-Newmarket-Roxbury Working Group on Addiction, Recovery, and Homelessness, a decade-old community organization formed to combat the drug use problem in the neighborhoods, hosted the BPHC at its April meeting this past week.

Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, the city’s Commissioner of Public Health, presented at the meeting about the benefits of the department’s harm reductionist approach to open air drug use, including providing clean syringes and fentanyl test strips to people suffering from addiction.

“We don’t view harm reduction and recovery as separate concepts,” Ojikutu said. “We really look at the services that we offer people who use drugs on a continuum. We acknowledge that substance use disorder is a chronic disease, and in order for most people to recover, they need to be introduced to a system of care that will aid them as they pursue recovery.”

In light of the worsening problem at Mass.

and Cass, however, community leaders and city officials have instead been pushing for an approach that prioritizes treatment and recovery over safer continued use.

This includes measures like Section 35, a state law that permits the involuntary commitment to treatment for individuals with an addiction.

Kellie Young, the newest leader of the city’s Coordinated Response Team who was also present at the meeting, has publicly stated that she supports proactive measures like Section 35.

When asked whether the BPHC would also consider a policy shift toward more recovery focused methods, Ojikutu said it would not.

“A policy shift? No, we’re not planning a policy shift,” Ojikutu said. “As I mentioned, harm reduction is part of a continuum of services that we provide, including offering people recovery, offering people treatment.

Maybe I wasn’t clear. There isn’t a dichotomy between harm reduction and recovery. We use harm reduction, and I think it’s important to use it as a way to support people, to keep them alive, to keep them safer. And we offer them options in regard to treatment and recovery. So, there’s no policy shift involved here.”

Ojikutu’s comments came after a presentation by Worcester Square Area Neighborhood Association co-president Andrew Brand, which featured 20 photos taken by residents. One photo featured a group of 23 people huddled in a bus stop on Harrison Ave using drugs. Another showed around 15 syringes in a softball dugout at Peters Park.

“It’s been a cold April and this is what it’s like now,” Brand said. “Based on previous history, when it’s been this bad, you’ll have 300 people in this area in the summer if we do not act now.”

Brand also pointed to the city’s recent success in Downtown, where in less than two months the police force and community organizations in the area have dramatically decreased the amount of open-air drug use.

“This is a huge win,” Brand said. “Boston proved that it’s possible to reduce drug disorder. They did it. Since Mayor Wu’s press conference [about public safety Downtown, in February], Downtown is clean. Mass. and Cass has gotten dramatically worse. It’s time that Boston gets just as serious about the Mass. and Cass area as what it did in Downtown.”