Despite passionate opposition in the past to the needle distribution program at Christine Emerson Reed Park, Santa Monica’s representation during a community meeting held both in-person and over Zoom on Monday, was minimal.
Held at the Martin Luther King, Jr Behavioral Health Center on South Wilmington Ave, South Los Angeles, the meeting was hosted by LA County Board of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer and also included Veronica Lewis, Director of the Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care System and Dr Gary Tsai and Brian Hurley, both from the Substance Abuse Prevention and Control at the LA County Department of Public Health.
"Many harm reduction programs currently reverse over 700 overdoses each month and last year, for the first time in 10 years, the county's rate of overdose deaths dropped modestly for a crisis that has been getting worse every year," Ferrer began.
"Convening this public meeting is part of our commitment to ongoing community feedback and partnership in our advancement of public health, we're grateful to the opportunity to hear from many of you about harm reduction programs and how we can advance our shared goals of healthier people safer streets and Stronger Communities," she said, adding that additional, similar, meetings would be held in other areas of the county later in the year.
"The idea is just to provide our audience today, whether it's in their room or whether it's those participating virtually, a general sense of these services, what they are, what they aren't [and] why we feel that they're important," Tsai said.
In July, the LA County Department of Public Health announced that fatal drug-related overdoses plateaued for the first time in 10 years in 2023 in LA County in "a crisis that has been getting worse every year," according to Ferrer.
However, many residents in Santa Monica have a different perspective and the essence of that discussion revolves around a program whereby every week in the centrally located Reed Park, a transit van from the Venice Family Clinic distributes clean syringes, Narcan and fentanyl testing kits to anyone suffering from drug addiction, in what’s called the "needle exchange program" or "needle distribution program."
The program has operated in several parks in Santa Monica, but a significant cause of concern among critics is that St. Monica’s school is directly opposite Reed Park, which incorporates publicly accessible basketball and tennis courts. Opponents of the current program say it not only affects the residents of the immediate area, but also young children who attend the nearby school.
Critics claim the program enables the continued use of drugs, draws more homeless to the city and makes parks unsafe, but researchers have linked syringe programs with a roughly 50% reduction in HIV and hepatitis C.
However, proponents of the program claim that addicts will still use hard drugs in the park regardless of whether the Venice Family Clinic transit van is there or not. And as such, it should be there to offer whatever assistance is possible.
"Harm reduction saves lives. The focus is around keeping people who use drugs alive and as healthy as possible," Tsai said, adding, "And the harm reduction approach emphasizes empathy, respect, compassion, non judgmental services for individuals who use drugs so that we can continue to engage them wherever they are, along the care continuum and along the continuum of recovery."
Ferrer did ask Tsai arguably the single most important question, which was that people fear that the harm reduction programs are both encouraging people to use drugs and making it easier for people to use drugs, which could delay people seeking other treatment.
"I would say the reason why over 30 years of evidence demonstrate that harm reduction services have led to a three to five times increased rate of treatment, interest and acceptance in terms of substance use treatment is because of the fact that it engages people at varying stages of their substance use, as well as their substance use recovery," Tsai responded.
Following an unconvincing attempt to draw a parallel to people suffering from diabetes, he added, "If we can't limit risks that could easily translate to a death, and there's no way that we're going to help individuals who are not alive and so part of harm reduction is just about that engagement translating to lives saved so that we can continue to build relationships that are necessary for individuals to engage with needed services."
Jessica Rogers, co-founder of the Santa Monica Coalition, who very much led the charge at the Reed Park protest in April, was the first public speaker to comment. "If evil expresses itself in corrupted souls and dishonorable people who push inhumane policies out of egoism, greed and political agendas, why hand out needles and meth pipes to addicts on our streets and dehumanize them?" Rogers asked.
"If you have any mercy for their suffering, wouldn't you gift them with accountability and force them to show up for themselves, help them create meaning out of their existence that is more powerful than their [addiction], Rogers added.
"We are using a lot of our science that actually has demonstrated over time that the services that we're providing around needle exchange, around lessening the harm associated with using drugs saves lives and allows people on a path to recovery. But I appreciate that you have a different perspective," Ferrer responded.
John Allle, co-founder of the Santa Monica Coalition, also spoke regarding the situation in Santa Monica. "By your own admission, your program is model based. Please tell us what metrics, what stats and what evidence you have to show that it's working, because in the last four years in Santa Monica, it's been a disaster. Suspend the program there until you can provide brick and mortar buildings. Please. You're doing the majority of the public a disservice for a very few."
Following a little factual embellishment, he added, "Please come out and see for yourself … The City of Santa Monica has asked you to move it out of the parks [and] you haven't."
No one else from Santa Monica spoke during the meeting.
scott.snowden@smdp.com