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Media Release September 13, 2006

For more information, contact: Heather Edney: (323) 660-0518 odprevention@cleanneedlesnow.org

LA County Supervisors Take Action to Reduce Fatal Overdoses

Program to Expand Access to Anti-Overdose Drug Will Save Lives

LOS ANGELES, September 13 – Yesterday the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors cast a landmark vote to create a new pilot project aimed at reducing drug overdose deaths in LA County, where fatal overdose is on the rise.

By a 3-1 margin, the Board approved a pilot program for the public distribution of Naloxone, a prescription drug that reverses the effects of opiate overdose. The drug has a proven record of saving lives when made available to opiate users. Supervisors Gloria Molina, Zev Yaroslavsky and Yvonne Burke voted to approve this lifesaving project; supervisor Mike Antonovich voted against; supervisor Don Knabe was absent.

“Since 1993, drug overdose has been one of the primary causes of premature deaths in our County, accounting for about 20,000 years of lost life annually…more than stroke, more than HIV,” said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, Director of Public Health for Los Angeles County.

“This is an inexpensive program relatively speaking and is a very cost-effective way to save years of life that otherwise would be lost,” Fielding said. “Naloxone reverses the effects of opiates. It’s non-addictive and inexpensive.”

Under the pilot program, the county will fund community-based agencies which are providing needle exchange and/or drug treatment programs targeting opiate users to incorporate distribution of Naloxone into the variety of services they offer to their clients.

Agency staff will provide on-site training to clients about preventing narcotics overdose, administration of Naloxone, and assistance with rescue breathing. Program clients will also receive information about treatment services and other resources from agency staff.

“This bold move by the Board of Supervisors is a first step that will save lives in Los Angeles County,” said Shoshanna Scholar, executive director of Clean Needles Now, a Los Angeles needle exchange and harm reduction program addressing the health needs and human rights of people who use drugs.

“Each year, hundreds of people die because those who witness an overdose are often too fearful of prosecution to call 911, even when lives are in danger,” Scholar continued. "This pilot program has the potential to change the facts on the ground – to save lives now. I am confident this pilot program will be a success and look forward to seeing it expanded soon, so we get Naloxone into the hands of those who need it most.”

A groundswell of public support for overdose death prevention began on March 16, 2006, at the Los Angeles Overdose Prevention Summit, when researchers, medical professionals, city officials, law enforcement, drug treatment staff, and community members gathered to talk about LA’s growing numbers of overdose deaths.

They formed the Los Angeles Overdose Prevention Task Force, which now has 58 members from 48 agencies plus several family members, to address this public health crisis. Many taskforce members testified at yesterday’s meeting of the Board of Supervisors.

"We have the ability to help save lives and I think that that's the most important thing we can do," said Lorraine Rebennack, whose daughter Jessica died of an opiate overdose in 2003. "It's not just the overdose victim, it's the entire family of these people that are never the same again."

Kristen Ochoa, MD, organizer of Los Angeles Overdose Prevention Summit and founding member of the Los Angeles Overdose Prevention Taskforce said, “This is a very big day for us.”

Dr. Ochoa said after the vote, “it has been inspiring to see this change happen in LA. As a physician and as someone who has lost loved ones to overdose, I am moved by the humanity of this decision.”

Overdose prevention programs have been established in New York, San Francisco, Baltimore, Chicago, and New Mexico.  These programs collectively represent over 9,000 Naloxone trainings and over 1,000 reported saved lives. There have been no reported adverse events.

Generous support for the organizing efforts of Clean Needles Now by the Drug Policy Alliance allowed this powerful group of Angelenos to come together to affect policy change.

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