‘No More Needles In Our Parks,’ Say Santa Monica Residents Fed Up With LA County Program

Santa Monica leaders and residents joined forces this week to call on Los Angeles County health officials to immediately stop a needle exchange program they say is responsible for dirty needles in their parks, and an increase of crime and homelessness. City leaders have twice asked the program be moved away from the city’s parks including passing a resolution April 9 asking the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, to request the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, which administers the program, to move it indoors. The city’s previous council sent a letter to the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors in September 2022 asking the same....