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Features|In Pictures

Fentanyl’s scourge evident on the streets of Los Angeles

Fentanyl has become a scourge across the United States and is taking a toll on the growing number of people living on the streets.

two homeless people sharing a piece of fentanyl
Two homeless addicts share a small piece of the drug fentanyl in an alley in Los Angeles. Use of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that is cheap to produce and is often sold as is or laced with other drugs, has exploded. [Jae C Hong/AP Photo]
Published On 10 Dec 202210 Dec 2022
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For too many people strung out on the drug, the sleep that follows a fentanyl hit could be permanent.

The highly addictive and potentially lethal drug has become a scourge across the United States and is taking a toll on the growing number of people living on the streets of Los Angeles.

About one-third of the 2,000 homeless deaths between April 2020 and March 2021 was from an overdose. While help is available, it is outpaced by the magnitude of misery on the streets. Homeless addicts in Los Angeles can be seen sprawled on sidewalks or passed out in alleys. Others peddle tiny doses and puffs of smoke to the desperate seeking their next high.

Fentanyl was developed to treat intense pain from ailments such as cancer. The use of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that is cheap to produce and is often sold as is or laced with other drugs, has exploded. Because it is 50 times more potent than heroin, even a small dose can be fatal.

It has quickly become the deadliest drug in the nation, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Two-thirds of the 107,000 overdose deaths in 2021 were attributed to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The drug’s toll spreads far beyond the streets. Drug abuse can be a cause or symptom of homelessness. Both can also intersect with mental illnesses.

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Forensic assistant Laurentiu Bigu, (left), and investigator Ryan Parraz from the Los Angeles County coroner's office cover the body of a homeless man found dead on a sidewalk in Los Angeles. The 60-year-old man died from the effects of methamphetamine, according to his autopsy report. [Jae C Hong/AP Photo]
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A homeless man injects a Narcan nasal spray into the nose of a female addict who appears to have overdosed. [Jae C Hong/AP Photo]
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Ryan Smith, a 36-year-old homeless addict, falls asleep after smoking fentanyl in a filthy alley behind a Los Angeles doughnut shop. Smith convulsed in the grips of a fentanyl high — lurching from moments of slumber to bouts of violent shivering on a warm summer day. Nearly 2,000 homeless people died in the city from April 2020 to March 2021, a 56 percent increase from the previous year. [Jae C Hong/AP Photo]
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Armando Rivera, 33, smokes fentanyl mixed with methamphetamine in an alley in Los Angeles. Rivera blew out white puffs to attract addicts into the alley. He needed to sell some dope to buy more. Those without enough money to support their habit, hovered around him, hoping for a free hit. Rivera showed no mercy. [Jae C Hong/AP Photo]
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A paramedic performs cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a homeless man who collapsed after a physical altercation over a coat with another homeless person. The 33-year-old man died of asphyxia and neck compression, according to his autopsy report. [Jae C Hong/AP Photo]
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Dolores Flores, a 57-year-old homeless drug addict, bathes using a soda can filled with water from a drinking fountain in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles. [Jae C Hong/AP Photo]
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A homeless man with a mental illness walks across the street with a thick blanket over him. Drug abuse can be a cause or symptom of homelessness. Both can also intersect with mental illnesses. [Jae C Hong/AP Photo]
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An addict kneels on a sidewalk to smoke fentanyl as pedestrians walk past him in Los Angeles. [Jae C Hong/AP Photo]
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Vino, a 25-year-old drug addict who gave his first name only, smokes fentanyl in an alley. [Jae C Hong/AP Photo]
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A homeless woman with a mental illness mumbles to herself while standing in an alley with a crate over her head. [Jae C Hong/AP Photo]
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Jennifer Catano, 27, has the names of two children tattooed on her wrists, but she has not seen them for years. They live with her mother. 'My mom doesn't think it's a good idea because she thinks it's gonna hurt the kids because I'm not ready to get rehabilitated,' Catano said. She has overdosed three times and been through rehabilitation seven or eight times. 'It's scary to get off of it. The withdrawals are really bad.' [Jae C Hong/AP Photo]
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Kelly Richardson, a mental health case manager from People Concern, a social services agency based in Los Angeles County, talks to a homeless person while carrying pouches containing Narcan nasal spray kits in Santa Monica, California. [Jae C Hong/AP Photo]
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Drug addicts smoke fentanyl next to piles of rubbish in an alley. [Jae C Hong/AP Photo]
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A banner advocating housing for the homeless, with an image depicting Martin Luther King Junior, hangs on a fence in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles. [Jae C Hong/AP Photo]


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