On September 4, the Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse hosted its “International Overdose Awareness Day Town Hall 2024” from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Fine Arts building of Cerritos College.

L.A. CADA, held the event in order to raise awareness and educate the community about substance abuse and overdoses. They also hoped to honor those who lost their lives to overdoses and acknowledge the grief felt by their family members.

Arlene Vasquez, the director of program development at L.A. CADA, said, “It’s really important to save as many lives as possible, prevent overdoses from occurring and continue to be part of this campaign to educate the community.”

“We believe that overdose is preventable. It’s through education, the reduction of stigma and empowering and equipping the community with life-saving medication,” Vasquez said.

L.A. CADA also works to promote harm reduction. Attendees of the event had the opportunity to receive overdose kits consisting of the medication, Naloxone, an inter-nasal spray that treats victims of an overdose by helping them breathe.

It reverses the overdose enough for the victim to gain back their normal breathing while they await professional medical assistance – the kits also included fentanyl test strips.

“A lot of the overdose deaths that occur are because the person that misused or consumed the substance did not even know that it was laced with fentanyl – those overdose kits also had fentanyl test strips so you could make an educated when you’re going to consume the substance,” Vasquez explained.

Margarita Rios, the mayor of Norwalk, was featured as the keynote speaker at the event.

Along with this, patients of the program shared their testimonies as to how the program helped them.

George Allenegui, 21, has been sober since July 13, 2022. He said the program showed him how he could be sober and live a somewhat normal life without drugs.

“It’s helped me in multiple ways,” explained Allenegui, “Staying out of jail – it’s helped me learn how to be a productive member of society. I have two jobs at the moment. I’m enrolled in school. And I feel like that wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for L.A. CADA.”

Stephanie Rincon, 33, said that prior to joining L.A. CADA, she’d had her children taken away from her and was in and out of jail.

“It’s changed my life,” Rincon elaborated, “It’s reunified me and my children. I have my mind back. I think straight and it has helped me be sober.”

L.A. CADA offers many different inpatient and outpatient programs – it even has programs that focus on youth, women with children and those experiencing homelessness while dealing with substance abuse.

Darrell Garnaas, a substance abuse counselor for L.A. CADA, said, “Working with all the different types of populations from our heteronormative society, to our LGBTQ service population, and from our transitional youth and women with children – it really brings to light that substance abuse effects everybody.”

He continued, “It really doesn’t matter who you are – the disease doesn’t discriminate. So to be open minded and willing to help another person is a beautiful thing. That’s why I truly love what I do.”

After the event, attendees were provided with free gelato popsicles from Gelato Amore Mio.

L.A. CADA has offices all around Los Angeles including Long Beach and Santa Fe Springs.

If you or a loved is suffering from substance abuse you are able to request an appointment on the organization’s website.