In a move to combat substance abuse, the Los Angeles City Council called Friday for a new pilot program for the distribution of naloxone, an opioid reversal medication, in South Los Angeles neighborhoods.

In a 10-0 vote, council members instructed the chief legislative analyst to report on the resources such a pilot would require. The City Council expects to fund the program using available dollars from a 2021 opioid settlement.

Council members Bob Blumenfield, Ysabel Jurado, Adrin Nazarian, Nithya Raman and Katy Yaroslavsky were absent during the vote.

On Feb. 7, Councilman Curren Price and Councilwoman Heather Hutt, who represent South Los Angeles communities, introduced the motion highlighting the importance of addressing the opioid crisis.

According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, more than 3,000 individuals lost their lives to drug overdose in 2023.

The council members’ motion noted that in the past decade there’s been misuse of prescription painkillers, heroin, and fentanyl that has plagued communities. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, has been a major contributor to the crisis.

The council members said the drug’s availability has led to a dramatic spike, accounting for more than half of all alcohol and drug overdoses across the city, particularly in vulnerable areas such as South Los Angeles.

A recent report from the county Department of Public Health found that fentanyl-related deaths increased from 109 to 1,970 between 2016 and 2023.

“By expanding access to naloxone, we can empower first responders, community members, and individuals to act swiftly and reduce fatalities, especially in poor neighborhoods where the death rate from fentanyl was at least twice as high,” the motion reads.

The City Council has taken other steps to address opioids in the city. Last year, the City Council advanced another pilot program intended to provide residents with fentanyl testing equipment. Funds from the opioid settlement will be used for that program as well.

The city is expected to receive $29.6 million to $53.3 million over an 18-year period from two settlements reached with opioid distributors in 2021.

Approximately 80% of dollars from the opioid settlement are restricted for future opioid remediation and the remaining 20% for opioid-related projects, or to reimburse the city for the purchase of Narcan or training for first responders, according to city documents.

In June 2024, the City Council allocated $3 million of the settlement funds for a proposed respite center within a half-mile radius of MacArthur Park.