West Hollywood is gearing up to host a Substance Use and Harm Reduction Town Hall Forum, which is aimed at addressing substance use and promoting harm reduction in the community. The forum will focus on important topics such as overdose prevention, with particular attention to substances like fentanyl, methamphetamine, and xylazine.
In collaboration with APLA Health, Institute for Public Strategies (IPS), and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Substance Abuse Prevention and Control (SAPC) program, the Town Hall Forum promises to be an informative and insightful gathering.
Here are the event details:
- Date: Wednesday, August 2, 2023
- Time: 6:00 p.m.
- Location: City of West Hollywood’s Council Chambers/Public Meeting Room, 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard
This event is free and open to the public, and organizers kindly request attendees to RSVP in advance via Eventbrite. Limited validated parking will be available in the adjacent Five-Story West Hollywood Park structure for those driving to the event.
The Town Hall Forum will also be broadcast on WeHoTV. You can catch the broadcast on Spectrum Channel 10 or stream it on the City’s WeHoTV YouTube channel. Additionally, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, and Roku users can tune in by searching for “WeHoTV” on their respective platforms.
The Substance Use and Harm Reduction Town Hall Forum aims to provide valuable insights into the current landscape of substance use in West Hollywood and Los Angeles. Key focus areas include fentanyl, opioids, stimulants, methamphetamine, and the emerging presence of xylazine, known as tranq.
The forum will adopt a non-judgmental, drug-forward, and sex-positive approach, creating a safe space for constructive conversations between healthcare providers and individuals dealing with substance use. The goal is to address the pressing issue of substance use and its impact on the community, with a focus on finding effective solutions for overdose prevention.
Distinguished speakers and panelists include Dr. Siddarth Puri, Associate Medical Director of Prevention of Substance Abuse Prevention and Control at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LA County Public Health), along with experts from various fields related to substance use.
Fentanyl, a highly addictive synthetic opioid, has become a major contributor to overdose deaths in the United States. In Los Angeles County alone, accidental fentanyl overdose deaths have surged a staggering 1,280% from 2016 to 2021. It’s critical to be aware of this potent substance, often mixed with counterfeit pharmaceuticals like Xanax and Adderall, as well as street drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin.
WHAT IS TRANQ?
Xylazine, a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer, has been making waves in the human world, and not for the right reasons. Originally developed for use in animals, xylazine was investigated for human use but was terminated due to severe hypotension and CNS depressant effects. Despite not being approved for human use, it has been linked to an increasing number of overdose deaths nationwide, marking a grim chapter in the evolving drug addiction and overdose crisis.
The tranquilizer, also known as “tranq,” is a central nervous system depressant that can cause drowsiness and amnesia and slow breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure to dangerously low levels. While some might find the sedative effects enjoyable, the dangers far outweigh the fleeting moments of euphoria.
Studies show people exposed to xylazine often knowingly or unknowingly used it in combination with other drugs, particularly illicit fentanyl. The concoction is believed to lengthen the euphoric effects of fentanyl, but at a deadly cost. Most overdose deaths linked to both xylazine and fentanyl also involved additional substances, including cocaine, heroin, benzodiazepines, alcohol, gabapentin, methadone, and prescription opioids.
The economic demand for xylazine is evident in the alarming statistics. From 2015 to 2020, the percentage of all drug overdose deaths involving xylazine increased from 2% to 26% in Philadelphia. Xylazine was involved in 19% of all drug overdose deaths in Maryland in 2021 and 10% in Connecticut in 2020.
The dangers of xylazine use extend beyond the immediate risk of overdose. Repeated use is associated with skin ulcers, abscesses, and related complications. The routes of administration vary, with people reporting using xylazine or xylazine-containing drugs by injecting, snorting, swallowing, or inhaling.
In the event of a suspected xylazine overdose, experts recommend giving the opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone because xylazine is frequently combined with opioids. However, because xylazine is not an opioid, naloxone does not address the impact of xylazine on breathing. This has raised concerns that a growing prevalence of xylazine in the illicit opioid supply may render naloxone less effective for some overdoses.
The Substance Use and Harm Reduction Town Hall Forum is an excellent opportunity for community members to gain knowledge and explore collaborative approaches to address substance use issues. Understanding the risks associated with these substances can save lives and help build a healthier, safer West Hollywood.
For more information about the event, interested parties can contact Derek Murray, City of West Hollywood Social Services Program Administrator, at (323) 848-6478 or dmurray@weho.org. For the Deaf or hard of hearing, please call TTY at (323) 848-6496.
Anyone wanting an Eyes on the Street View of addicts roaming Portland, Philadelphia San Francisco, New York and Downtown LA simply look them up on Instagram. These people are collecting funds from the government to enhance or extend their stays in Zombie Land to the detriment of our cities, hoes, businesses and our lives. The Staff employees and those on commissions are highly paid to work the system so it never runs out of money and to keep them, the employees in place but barely makes a mark on the addicts, homeless and a working solution to the exponential problem.… Read more »
The unconscionable normalization of individuals passed out in plain sight under the blazing sun on sidewalks and public parks should also be part of this discussion.
With all due respect, what would be your solution rather than endless discussions absent solutions?
This is the comments section. That’s my comment wise guy. Maybe something for you to think about, and discuss at the meeting.
Thankfully others responded even though you were respectfully asked. Who’s the wise guy?
You are, it’s obvious. But now that it’s clearer to you, you’ll have something to say at Wednesday’s meeting.
Rapidly losing credibility and have devolved into the sandbox. Sad, there was such promise, now you appear simply angry.
You’re over-thinking it
You get caught doing drugs you either accept placement in a treatment center or you go to jail. Divert a large part of all the tax money raised that is going to “affordable housing” and funnel into treatment facilities. Drug addicts aren’t looking for an affordable home..they’re looking for their next hight. Ever since the hands off approach on the drug addicts, their numbers (the “homeless”) have grown. Not hard to figure out that what we’ve been doing in recent years has only made the problem worse…not better. You can’t have a passive response to this problem. It’s like letting… Read more »
Thank you, you are correct.
I don’t want to pay for worthless and endless expensive “treatment” for imbeciles. Put them in tents out in the desert, away from polite society. We need to pass laws making it illegal to give homeless people money or food on public sidewalks. Some cities are already passing these laws. And enforce No Trespassing laws. There’s your solution. Cheap and it works. It gets the losers in life out of our cities.
Also…same with the mentally ill. You’re starting to see politicians (finally!) like the Governor, move towards mandatory treatment facilities for the mentally ill. That’s another good step in the right direction. Letting the mentally ill wander the streets, sleep in their own filth and eat of garbage cans is not compassion. It’s stupidity. Not good for them or society.
Thanks, most correct.
Put them in jail.
We really can’t talk enough about overdose prevention. But Institute for Public Strategies has engaged in abusive retaliatory behavior and exploitative practices of participants. Their sole interest is keeping their public money streams flowing at the expense of the community they claim to serve. Weho deserves better than unethical and discriminatory organizations overseeing such important and sensitive issues.
It may sound callous, but trying to keep alive drugged out street crapping assaultive derelicts whose only job is to destroy the quality of life of respectable hard working residents seems counterproductive. Let them enjoy their high then say goodbye.
“…whose only job is to destroy the quality of life of respectable hard working residents…”
Wow! Not just callous, but a bit of a self-centered as well.
The politicians and their hacks/handlers are doing a good job of just throwing more good tax money at a never ending problem. Rather than criticize someone with a reasonable point of view, tell us, Josh Kurpies, what is your solution to drugged out street derelicts. We’re waiting.
[…] Story continues […]
But at the same time the city wants to “decriminalize” mushrooms. 🙄
The city also supported “medical marijuana” which of course let to “decriminalizing” pot and now it’s everywhere…you can’t even walk down the street or sit at a restaurant and breath fresh air. They’ve open the door..and the problems will continue to get worse. Ask Portland.
Oh great. Let’s spend lots of public money on those miracle drugs that quickly cure intentional (or accidental overdoses). Lord knows we sure don’t want to lose any of these precious people. We want them to survive their intentional (or accidental overdoses), so we can continue to spend lots of money on them, and all their future overdoses. And BTW, my personal definition of an “accidental overdose” is if say someone has some heroin in an upper cabinet, and somehow it accidently falls off the shelf, and injects itself, accidently, into the person. That is an accident. Anything else is… Read more »
Agreed. Being a drug addict or an alcoholic is a conscious choice. Find some non-potentially lethal ways to solve your problems and stop making it everyone else’s hardship.
I truly wish they would stop labeling every junkie overdose as “accidental”. It sends a bad message. Unless the drugs fell off the shelf, like in an earthquake, and went into the junkie’s body. Otherwise, it was planned and intentional. The risks are very well known. The problem with society is people don’t take responsibility for their actions, and they want to reward bad behavior. We seem to be in the minority around here.
Overdoses occur, when somebody is so messed up, that they take it too far. It also occurs when fentanyl is laced into methamphetamine, cocaine, heroine, etc. Once again, this is a disease. It’s hereditary. Addiction. I’m sure it sounds simple to you, saying that people should take responsibility for their actions. But I know well too many people, who got started, and could not stop. Even with treatment. Even with counseling. Even with anti-addiction pills. But I expect no less of an insensitive comment from you. Aren’t you the one who proposed taking all of the homeless, and dumping them… Read more »
The word “overdose” should not exist. It’s not a disease. It’s a choice addicts made to become addicts. This has been very well known. It’s not hereditary. Stop making excuse for people who made conscious bad choices in life. I want the homeless out of the cities. I have a workable cheap solution. You offer nothing. Just hot air. There are consequences for making bad choices in life.
Are you an addict? Have you been through programs? It is not a conscious choice. It is a disease. You sound like one of those anti-LGBTQ people who say that I “chose to be gay.”
Equating addicts with LGBTQ is not an accurate comparison.Quite frankly if someone knows there is even a slim possibility that taking any drug might create an addictive situation why would any sane person do that? The person chooses to be reckless. Your can go through all the programs in the world but once one takes any drug it fundamentally changes systems in the body……thats why it is called addictive. Get smart, find a sport or a hobby. Stay healthy!
Lovely. Nice to see there’s still some empathy left in the world. Perhaps you should attend and see that these are actually human beings, that had hopes, dreams, families that love them. No one on earth grows up hoping to become an addict. Most would do anything not to be. Best not to judge anyone, a mile in someone else’s shoes could change your mind.
Let me see if I have this right: these “people” with “hopes and dreams”, and “families that love them” (you sure about that one?), knowingly took TRANQ, which turned them into zombies, and are no longer human beings. It was their choice. I believe they are of no value to society. I don’t want my taxes raised to pay for the miniscule chance they will turn things around. I have empathy for those who want to live and contribute to society. Do you not think there should be consequences for bad decisions, or should every decision, no matter how bad,… Read more »
“I have empathy for those who want to live and contribute to society.”
You don’t though. You dehumanize anyone who isn’t rich lol.
Truth.
LOL – basically, “I have empathy for anyone who chooses to live and think like me”. Literally, the antithesis of empathy AND one of the main tenets of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (lack of empathy, unhealthy entitlement, and the belief that others need to be just like them or they have no value.
You’re making things up. I dehumanize anyone who makes repeated bad life choices. Could that be you?