Members of a Los Angeles nonprofit that obtained authorities funding prior to now had been seen handing out new meth pipes to the homeless residing on Skid Row, outraging some members of the neighborhood, in keeping with a neighborhood report.
Staff with Homeless Well being Care Los Angeles had been recorded on video by a resident of the neighborhood as they handed out the paraphernalia whereas driving round in a golf cart, FOX11 Los Angeles reported.
Tony Anthony, the resident who recorded the video, instructed the station that he was shocked that this was taking place in his neighborhood, arguing that passing out the pipes will solely encourage addicts to get excessive.
“In case you stroll down Skid Row and see the individuals which might be on methamphetamine … and acquired sores throughout their physique, their tooth falling out, bumps throughout their face, operating down the road butt bare, that’s no security. They don’t have to be coming down right here passing out these glass pipes,” he mentioned.
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Clear glass pipes for methamphetamine, just like the one seen above, had been being distributed by a nonprofit within the downtown Los Angeles neighborhood of Skid Row, in keeping with a neighborhood report. (Reuters/David Ryder)
In response to public tax information obtained by the station, the nonprofit obtained $5.7 million in authorities funding in 2016. The funding was elevated to $11.9 million in 2019, the report mentioned.
Within the U.S., overdose deaths from methamphetamine practically tripled from 2015 to 2019 amongst individuals ages 18 to 64, in keeping with a research by the Nationwide Institute on Drug Abuse, a part of the Nationwide Institutes of Well being.
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Whereas some residents had been left outraged by the damaged pipes discovered littering the streets of Skid Row, others mentioned that handing out clear pipes might save lives.
A person recognized solely as “Catfish” instructed the station that choosing up the unsuitable pipe or unsuitable needle could also be lethal and that handing out clear paraphernalia was holding addicts alive.
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Officers with the nonprofit declined to remark to the station.
