Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
The Santa Monica Coalition is organizing a rally to let the city's leaders know there is opposition to this 'harm reduction' program
Please join The Santa Monica Coalition this Tuesday, April 16 at 10:30am in Reed Park for a Protest in Opposition to the Needle Distribution Program.
Drug users hang out at Reed Park, waiting for their next free enabling of their addiction
The City of Santa Monica and the Los Angeles County along with Venice Family Clinic have been operating the only open-air, publicly funded, needle distribution program in the state. They make their distributions at Reed Park, Tongva and Palisades Park (along Ocean Avenue). This program is attracting substance abusers to settle in our parks, inject drugs and discard their used needles in the grassy areas of the park.
For the last 19 months, City officials have not acted on our behalf. Our City Manager David White, without consulting the City Council, signed a Joint Proclamation on behalf of Santa Monica, with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, endorsing the Needle Distribution Program. David White is currently being supported by councilmembers Davis, Torosis and Zwick. All three councilmembers voted against ending the distribution of needles in our parks at our last council meeting.
Over 20,000 letters have been sent to our City Manager, City Council, County Supervisor, Barbara Ferrer, State Senator and our Governor. We have been forced to file a lawsuit against Barbara Ferrer, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and the Venice Family Clinic. We want our parks available for safe use for all our families and visitors. We believe the program should be moved away from our parks.
This Venice Family Clinic van showed up at Reed Park 10 hours after the Santa Monica City Council voted to oppose the open-air needle distribution program
Santa Monica's parks have become magnets for assaults, robbery, overdose and deaths. Santa Monica has now surpassed San Francisco with the highest number of addicts on a per square mile basis. Santa Monica, one of 88 cities in Los Angeles County, now ranks as the 3rd largest hub for meth and fentanyl overdoses, behind only Skid Row and MacArthur Park.
Join us on Tuesday, April 16 at 10:30 am and show our City, County and State Leaders that we Oppose the Needle Distribution Program in our Parks.
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