Several drug deaths were reported across Los Angeles yesterday.
Officers with the Los Angeles Police Pacific Division said a homeless man discovered at the Venice Boardwalk Thursday morning died of an overdose.
The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a call around 6:30 a.m. at Brooks Avenue and Ocean Front Walk.
A passerby discovered the body in or near the public restrooms, according to police.
Police said the man was discovered with a needle still in his arm and no identification.
In Downtown Los Angeles, three men were found dead of suspected drug overdoses involving fentanyl.
Officers discovered the dead men inside an apartment after police received a call about three unresponsive men late Wednesday, Los Angeles police said in a statement.
Fentanyl is a highly lethal drug that has been cut into heroin for several years, and more recently has been pressed into counterfeit pills resembling prescription drugs. Experts link the drug to the rise in U.S. overdose deaths.
Last month, President Joe Biden’s administration released its first national drug control strategy.
“Provisionally, in the 12-months ending October 2021, an historic 105,752 persons are predicted to have died from a drug overdose,” the document said.
Synthetic opioids, including illicit fentanyl, were involved in 66% percent of these overdose deaths, it said.
Jamie Paige and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
editor@smdp.com
