LA pushes naloxone pilot program ahead amidst ongoing disaster – NBC Los Angeles
The Los Angeles Metropolis Council is transferring ahead with plans for a brand new pilot program to distribute naloxone, an opioid reversal remedy, in South Los Angeles neighborhoods.
The movement was first launched by Ninth and Tenth district council members Curren Value and Heather Hutt in early February – each which symbolize sections of South LA – to deal with the continued overdose disaster.
The unanimous vote amongst these at Friday’s assembly will end in an upcoming report on the sources this system would require.
Council members Bob Blumenfield, Ysabel Jurado, Adrin Nazarian, Nithya Raman and Katy Yaroslavsky had been absent throughout the vote.
The Metropolis Council expects to fund this system utilizing out there funds from a 2021 opioid settlement. LA is because of obtain $29.6 million to $53.3 million over an 18-year interval from two opioid distributors in. Of that pool, roughly 80% of the cash is restricted for future opioid remediation and the remaining 20% for opioid-related tasks in accordance with metropolis paperwork.
In accordance with the Los Angeles County Division of Public Well being, over 3,000 individuals misplaced their lives to drug overdose in 2023.
Lawmakers level to Fentanyl because the main reason behind current circumstances. The extremely prevalent and cheaply manufactured artificial drug is 50 occasions stronger than heroin and 100 occasions greater than morphine.
A current report from the county Division of Public Well being discovered that fentanyl-related deaths elevated from 109 to 1,970 between 2016 and 2023 – a roughly 1700% improve.
“By increasing entry to naloxone, we are able to empower first responders, neighborhood members, and people to behave swiftly and cut back fatalities, particularly in poor neighborhoods the place the demise price from fentanyl was a minimum of twice as excessive,” the movement reads.
