Photo: Jason Mastbaum
The “Santa Methica ” sign series on the Promenade property owned by gadfly John Alle was updated last week with the fourth sign in the series. This sign features the heads of Santa Monica City Manager David White, Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, Los Angeles County Health Director Barbara Ferrer, and Santa Monica City Councilmember Gleam Davis on “Mount Drugsmore.” Alle’s sign implores someone (the people viewing the sign, the people on the sign, the Santa Monica City Council? It’s unclear.) to “fire David White and hold the rest accountable.”
You can read our look at the second and third signs in the series. Sadly, we weren’t publishing when the series launched.
The City Council, Downtown Santa Monica Inc., and other business owners have pleaded with Alle to take the banner down. Despite a majority of the Council appearing at a political rally this Spring calling for an end to the county’s harm reduction program that includes a needle and pipe exchange at Reed Park in Santa Monica, Alle ignored the city’s request and just ramped up its criticism to include Mayor Phil Brock…who had spoken at their rally just a few weeks earlier. The county’s program runs for one hour a week on Wednesday morning.
We reached out to the four figures featured on the sign to get their reactions to being targeted by Alle. White, who alone has been featured on all four iterations of the sign, didn’t return our emails. Davis sent a brief exasperated statement that the sign is both damaging to the city and ineffective in achieving its goal.
“Mr. Alle’s sign is damaging to the economic recovery of The Promenade and Downtown Santa Monica,” Davis referring to the negative media attention it garners. “It will not affect the existence of or the operation of the County’s harm reduction programs.”
The other two targets/respondents took the opportunity to defend the county’s needle and pipe exchange program as part of a larger harm reduction strategy that helps save lives of people struggling with drug addiction.
“The County partners with Venice Family Clinic to provide harm reduction services for up to three hours each week in Santa Monica,” wrote Horvath “Through harm reduction and other efforts, deaths among people experiencing homelessness held steady for the first time since 2015, as opposed to continual increases the County had historically seen.“
Horvath attached a report by L.A. County that examines the mortality rate of people experiencing homelessness and the causes of death. The report shows that there has been a leveling off of deaths related to drug overdoses in 2022 after sharp increases in previous years. One of the reasons given was an increased number of doses of naloxone, a drug that reduces the impacts of drug overdoses in emergency situations. Naloxone is distributed at these needle and pipe exchange events.
Based on cause-specific mortality trends, it can be concluded that the recent plateau was driven largely by a leveling off of overdose mortality and a sharp decline in COVID-19 mortality (Figure 2). 2022 also saw a two-and-a-half-fold increase in the distribution of doses of naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal medication, in communities most affected by fentanyl overdoses, and a near doubling of reported naloxone-induced overdose reversals.1 These efforts likely contributed to the rapid leveling-off of the overdose mortality rate that year.
Horvath continued by noting that the county’s efforts to combat homelessness have also been working.
“Since Los Angeles County and the City of Santa Monica declared states of emergency on homelessness, we have seen a 20% decrease in homelessness on the Westside,” Horvath concluded. “We have an obligation to focus on what works. That’s what I am committed to, in close coordination with the City of Santa Monica.“
The LA County Department of Public Health also took the chance to defend their harm reduction program targeted by Alle. In a statement provided by Next, they wrote:
As residents and neighbors, we care deeply about the quality of life for everyone in our community and are committed to addressing concerns alongside residents, community leaders, and partners.
Collectively, communities across Los Angeles County are currently facing the worst overdose crisis in our history, driven by the increasing presence of fentanyl and methamphetamine in our communities, along with significant strains on our social support systems.
Despite these challenges, they are not impossible to address. By adopting a public health approach and working together, we can promote healthier individuals, safer streets, and stronger communities.
Research shows harm reduction initiatives like syringe service programs save lives without increasing drug use and are cost-effective. Participants in these programs are more likely to seek treatment and reduce drug injections.
LA County’s harm reduction programs currently reverse over 700 overdoses monthly. Last year, the County saw its first plateau in overdose deaths in a decade, a significant step forward in this escalating crisis.
LA County has increased investments in substance use prevention, treatment, and harm reduction services. Strengthening partnerships with community groups, leaders, and residents remains a top priority to ensure we address all concerns effectively.
More information about harm reduction programs is available at http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/sapc/public/harm-reduction and http://www.cdc.gov/syringe-services-programs/php/safety-effectiveness.html
