As drug overdose deaths intensify in Skid Row, local organizations team up to promote fentanyl awareness.
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- On a sunny late-autumn afternoon in downtown Los Angeles, dozens of men and women gathered in a pocket park, pounding out beats in a drum circle, eating a picnic lunch — and receiving free anti-overdose medication. It was just like any neighborhood block party, except the gathering's purpose was to address rampant fentanyl and methamphetamine use, and the block was in the middle of Skid Row, an area known for high levels of homelessness.
A November 2023 report from A-Mark Foundation highlights the disproportionate impact of fentanyl on homeless communities around the country, with a focus on Los Angeles, where fentanyl overdose deaths skyrocketed by 1,280% from 2016 to 2021. Drug overdoses accounted for more than one-third of all deaths among people experiencing homelessness in L.A. County from 2020 to 2021, and unhoused individuals were 38.9 times more likely to die of a drug overdose than the housed population.
The Nov. 30 event, held at Gladys Park, was the second community resource fair in Skid Row in 2023 aimed at providing information and resources to a population dealing with the problems related to increasing drug overdoses, specifically from fentanyl, as detailed in the report.
The aim of these events, which are sponsored in part by A-Mark Foundation in partnership with the LA Mayor's Office, was to deliver resources and information to prevent further losses of life. Illicitly manufactured synthetic opioids such as fentanyl are fueling the ongoing opioid crisis. With a potency 50 to 100 times stronger than heroin or morphine, fentanyl is extremely addictive, and even small doses can be deadly.
City organizations and independent nonprofits set up booths offering free clothing, and other tents and booths distributed pamphlets, program signups, and stacks of two-pack boxes of Narcan, an emergency nasal spray used to counteract fentanyl-related overdoses.
The report from A-Mark Foundation offers more details on possible solutions to the problem of fentanyl among the unhoused community, including investments in affordable housing, health care, mental health services, and substance use treatment alongside short-term measures such as Narcan and fentanyl test strips.
Founded in 1997, A-Mark Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to provide unbiased, nonpartisan research and information on critical issues. For more information, contact [email protected].
Media Contact
Tracey DeFrancesco, A-Mark Foundation, 310-587-1471, [email protected], https://amarkfoundation.org
SOURCE A-Mark Foundation
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