JUST THE RIGHT DOSE

Los Angeles has the chance to save hundreds of lives this year for
only a few dollars each. By simply distributing naloxone - a safe and
legal drug - overdose medication - the city could drastically reduce
the number of deaths due to overdose, which has become one of the
state's most urgent public health crises.

In 2003, the latest year for which the state has figures, nearly
3,600 drug users died,up 73% since 1990. Los Angeles accounted for
nearly a fourth of that total. That number surpasses deaths caused by
firearms and AIDS, and it soon could overtake auto accidents as the
state's leading cause of accidental death.

It's hard to say why so many drug users are dying, but the trend
mirrors what's happening across the country. A number of cities,
including New York and Chicago, have begun distributing syringes
filled with naloxone, at a cost of about $3 each, to drug addicts.
(The hope is that they will use them to save friends who have
overdosed.) Once injected, the non-mood-altering medication works by
reversing overdose symptoms such as respiratory distress, bringing
victims back within minutes.

Since beginning its overdose prevention program three years ago, San
Francisco, which has one of the highest rates of drug use in the
state, has seen drug deaths fall to fewer than 100 last year - their
lowest level in a decade.

Thankfully, Los Angeles County's public health director, Dr. Jonathan
Fielding, has taken a belated interest in the issue locally. Fielding
recently asked the county's narcotics advisory board to study the
topic, and he will probably ask the county Board of Supervisors to
approve a naloxone program as early as next month. If the board
approves the plan - a big if, considering its lukewarm response to
other programs aimed at reducing drug harm - the earliest Fielding
expects addicts could begin getting naloxone is later this year.

That is not soon enough. By then, too many more people will have died
in Los Angeles. Yes, all the dead will be drug addicts. But their
deaths are still needless. Ask yourself: If this were an antibiotic
that was saving hundreds of lives across the country, would you
tolerate such a casual delay?

On a single day late last month, three people overdosed on skid row,
a tragedy that might not have happened if public health officials had
moved more quickly. If cleaning up skid row is a priority for the
city and county, then one of the best places to start is with a
naloxone program in Los Angeles.