Stay updated with breaking news from Armando rivera. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
In an filthy alley behind a Los Angeles doughnut shop, Ryan Smith convulsed in the grips of a fentanyl high lurching from moments of slumber to bouts of violent shivering on a warm summer day. When Brandice Josey, another homeless addict, bent down and blew a puff of fentanyl smoke his way in an act of charity, Smith sat up and slowly opened his lip to inhale the vapor as if it was the cure to his problems. The highly addictive and potentially lethal drug has become a scourge across America and is taking a toll on the growing number of people living on the streets of Los Angeles. ....
About a third of the city's 2,000 homeless deaths between April 2020 and March 2021 were from an overdose. The federal government says the highly addictive and lethal synthetic drug has become the deadliest drug in the nation. ....
Opioids such as fentanyl has become a scourge across the U.S. In Los Angeles, annual overdose deaths among the homeless increased by 56% during the pandemic. ....