The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a motion Jan. 10 to make naloxone readily available at juvenile rehabilitation hall centers.
Naloxone, often sold under the brand name Narcan, is administered as a nasal spray or injection to reverse an opioid drug, like fentanyl, overdose.
The supervisors’ action is part of a larger effort by local governments across California to combat opioid abuse in order to save lives and reduce costs related to addiction treatment programs.
Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Janice Hahn authored the motion, despite there being no overdose deaths reported in juvenile centers.
However, smuggled drugs and other contraband have been found inside such centers, according to Horvath.
“Today’s motion is proactive to save lives,” she said during the meeting. “While we hope the need to deploy Narcan will never arise, we can’t afford to be unprepared.”
According to the report, the number of accidental fentanyl overdose deaths in Los Angeles County has been increasing yearly since 2016. Since that year and through 2021, such deaths increased by 1,280 percent.
Last year, in response to several student deaths, the Los Angeles Unified School District announced Narcan will now be available to all K–12 schools.
The motion calls for the county to partner with its health department to create a plan within 60 days to have Narcan in each juvenile facility, a budget that identifies funding sources, an analysis of how to maintain the program, and a description of educational materials for staff and county partners.
During the meeting, the supervisors discussed the importance of educating staff on how to properly administer the medication.
“I think it’s important for us to protect our employees as well who may come in contact with this [fentanyl],” Supervisor Kathryn Barger said. “It’s important for us to recognize that this is becoming more prevalent, unfortunately, in our communities.”
