Geo Duarte
Possible Overdoses in Lot 7 Parking Stairwell Behind S.B. Library.
At around 1:07 PM on Sunday it was reported that a man was having trouble breathing in the stairwell of Lot 7 behind the S.B. Library.
I witnessed the man crouching up against the wall on the second floor landing of the stairwell. His skin looked pale gray and his lips and face had a blueish color.
The male appeared to be in his mid to late thirties. He was wearing a blue Pendleton style shirt No drug paraphernalia was seen, just other personal items.
This man was trying really hard to take a breath. The S.B. Fire Dept. soon arrived and administered Narcan to the possible overdose victim. The condition of the man is unknown. SBPD arrived next, followed by an ambulance crew.
These overdose scenarios have become almost routine. They seem to occur in sequence, and in certain popular locations, as per scanner traffic.
Thank you for the report, the reminder to pay attention —- by doing so, you helped save someone’s life!
Not to say that this was drug related without more facts, but I do think Narcan is truly an amazing thing. Everyone should be aware of its availability and how to use it. If you have “party aged” kids, please teach them about it so they can possibly save someone’s life, maybe a friends. With fentanyl rampant and tainting just about every type of recreation drug, accidents happen. Do what you can to prevent them being deadly!
I have recently witnessed people shooting up in plain view during the daytime in the stairwell of the parking structure near the corner of Figueroa and Anacapa.
ANON – yes, sadly, we have addicts living in our streets. Please keep an eye out and if you see one possibly ODing, please call 911.
I see it every day. I work downtown, on State. I see it down along the waterfront, at the wharf. I see it at the benches near the Landing. I see them shooting up at SBCC. At Pershing Park near the public restrooms and the tennis courts. I see them shooting up near chase palm park at the duck pond. I’m not exaggerating or joking. It’s a massive problem. The PD is understaffed (you wanted to defund them, well enjoy your rewards).
Heroin, Meth, and other nasty garbage.
Enforcement and throwing money at the police will never be the answer to drug addiction. What we need is meaningful, accessible programs to get people the help they need to recover.
“defunding” the police is about transferring that funding to people who actually know how to deal with addicts, not just shoot them or put them in handcuffs.
Getting ready for court on a possession/influence case?
Narcan is super easy to use and to save a life with. There are almost 2 overdose deaths in Santa Barbara County a week that are opioid related. You can call the SB Opioid Coalition at 805 681 5323 or fill out the Naloxone Now SB request form and you will receive it free of charge
Sad to say but it is making me start to avoid that area.
Really nothing new. There have been addicts/drunks/homeless/tripping teenagers in that area since I was a kid in the 80s. What IS new though is the ability to help those who may be ODing.
BUBBA1985 – that is great information! I think people, especially those who frequent downtown, IV, or anywhere where people are partying or where addicts are known to be, to keep Narcan in their car as you would keep a 1st Aid kit.
but….MOST of us from the 80s didnt mix in with the harder stuff as acid, X, weed and booze was easy to get….
yep, those pesky tripping teens lol!
making you “start” avoiding that place? Dude we have been avoiding that place since the 1980s. Its always, and I mean always, been sketchy. That garage and the one behind the habit burger on the 700 block, sketchy. That garage has been a security issue since the day it was built (mid 90s?).
Downtown and other areas of SB have ABSOLUTELY gotten worse over the past few decades. It’s become disgusting, and that’s right at the top of the list of why people aren’t coming down as much and spending their time and money there. It’s pathetic.
Say what you want about more and more handouts and enabling. We’ve heard it all before. Disagree completely.
Who are you replying to? What handouts and enabling are you talking about that you disagree with?
And yes, SB has gotten dirtier in the last few decades than it probably was in the 50s and 60s. The whole country has.
This will continue because no one actually understands what is going on.
DANIEL – I don’t know, I think many know how to help people with this, but the unwillingness of many to address it or allow their tax dollars to pay for help for these folks is what’s holding us back.
1. The death may or may not be an overdose.
2. I put money on it no one will know who he is. And his identity is gone.
3. His identity will be used by a foreign country to embed intelligence operatives or it will be sold to someone looking to move here.
The powers that be may remove this comment. If so I understand. The problem is the public sadly does not. At some point some of this knowledge has to reach the public because our Country is in a very precarious state and very few people understand reality.
If you wish me to elaborate I will do so.
To make this stop the solution is not handouts. It is helping the people get the documents to prove who they are to do basically anything. People out here do not have mailboxes, a phone, identification etc. They can’t get off the street because they can’t prove who they are.
Are you saying homeless addicts are somehow not actually drug addicts? Not sure I follow. Please, do elaborate.
Yes and no. Many are. Some are not. Many become addicts because of the intense regular pain they are in and they can’t see a doctor. Even speed. While it is socially unacceptable. The lifestyle is extremely rigorous and requires an exceptional amount of endurance. Most have to continually stay out of view. For every one you see there are 50 you do not. Going to the bathroom can require as much as a mile of walking. A lot of homeless people smell like feces because of medical conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, prostate problems or other issues. They are not choosing to dedicate in their pants. They must find a suitably private location, accept a citation or just go in their pants if those two options are not available.
Theft in general is a calculated process that goes in phases. Until they have nothing. No phone, identification, control of their social security number, no mailbox and no documents to prove who they are in order to obtain the documents or the mailbox.
Because things are continually and constantly stolen. Many travel with everything they need in order to live at all times. Which is not conducive to obtaining employment.
Charging a phone can be a 3 mile round trip requiring them to stand and watch while it charges. Many stop using phones altogether because they cannot replace the calories required to keep the battery charged.
There are corrupt elements in our system who are facilitating this. Most likely unaware they are aiding foreign governments. Then there is the internal surveillance apparatus and abuse of those tools to label people so society will prevent them from working and they will be ran from place to place until they can no longer do so. Or are dead.
Those who think they have found some kind of fountain of wealth and power through some of the “tools” at their disposal will have a very rude awakening in the near future when they realize the cost of their actions to National Security. For now they are permitted to pillage at will because they are just a piece of cheese to catch a mouse.
OK, so I totally agree and understand until you get to the “internal surveillance apparatus.”
You don’t have to know then.
Don’t have to know what? I’m asking what you mean, as it doesn’t make sense. I see in your other comments you expound on it more.
Crazy conspiracy fruitcakes do not present cogent explanations.
Anonymous posters are usually worth listening to.
Actually you may want to listen to Anonymous. I answer to Papa Elf and talk to a flashlight.
It’s irrelevant.
All
I will
Say
Is this.
With technology the way it is. You better
Hope someone is watching. And it
Is the right
People.
Not coherent.
Unintelligible.
Too weird.
Senseless.
Many. Such as this man may have cash and food stamps and entirely unable to access any of it. Right now there are indications that it is potentially being facilitated by crime rings in Romania. Though indicators suggest it is many different countries with their own agendas.
How would it benefit a foreign government to make it so a homeless person is unable to access food stamps?
It benefits organized crime through tax free untraceable revenue that can be kept active indefinitely by someone who has control of their identity. It benefits a foreign government because the person no longer has access to food and may die to allow their identity to be used by a sleeper cell, terrorist network or foreign spy to gather intelligence and conduct espionage.
It can also benefit those coming in from Latin America who buy identities off of the black market and can have starter revenue and food while they establish themselves.
You are very right to be concerned about the situation. As are the powers that be. Because people who no longer have adequate food to replace the calories they expend, access to a bathroom, electricity and running water and are required to walk as much as 15 miles a day in their own feces to avoid being an eye sore for tourists and dinner parties can become unpredictable if they are trying to not die.
Well, assuming all this about foreign governments and surveillance is true, then it seems even more important that we help those vulnerable groups on our streets as opposed to the constant screaming every time a politician proposes a plan to help them that uses our taxes.
There are industries and sectors who thrive and live off Of thehomeless people. There have since the beginning of
time. Now it is becoming a security issue. So there may be meaningful change.
sInCe ThE bEgInNiNg Of TiMe
So, for 13.7 billion years? Were Thetans involved?
It wasn’t the Thetans it was the Energizer Bunny.
iNdIcAtIoNs
This is far fetched.
I doubt that other countries are sneaking in intelligence officers using vagrant identities.
Yeah, John Doe who dropped off the map 10 years ago and had a record of drug use is gonna get a job with the Navy or some government agency to get all the juicy secrets.
Plenty of people allowed in here who would sell that info, take the guy who was selling Navy secrets to China a half a year ago. Born there, naturalized here. No “secret identity” needed.
Please do tell.
A record is a piece of paper that contains whatever someone chooses to or is motivated to write.
It does influence many things. Including employment, societal perception, job opportunities etc. As far as representing reality. I suppose that depends on who writes it.
I am not talking about a job you walk into a recruiters office for. Who said anything about the navy or any of that?
You also have to fully understand that I may not be a good source of information. I just talked to my flashlight.
We do fully understand that.
Papa Elf will be pleased.
In no way do I condone illicit drug use, yet, it is a reality. I worry for our children. Accidental Od’s are frightening. Even “Marijuana-related-overdoses” are an issue (Kids flipping out because they did not know their minds were capable of such anxiety, etc.). Gummy bears laced with THC and other substances are an issue in todays free societies. (Imagine, surprise, YOU ARE NOW HIGH on something!) [sigh, eventually, and hopefully inserted here]
I had to have the talk with my kids. A cookie or a brownie can take anyone to an accidental paranoid episode! Or worse, something like fentanyl. Even in the 2000’s a neighbor of mine was apparently adding Codeine to her weed-brownies. Why?? She then said ‘to take off the edge.” IDK—what the solution is.
Here is a possible solution. Just like Saloon’s / Bars Historically had issues in the Old West with UNPREDICTABLE alcohol dosing! And, thus, deaths. Quite possibly, maybe we can somehow control the dosage issue here—real-soon-too…
I was a DJ in night clubs for years. Bar’s regulated the dispensing of alcohol to individuals who had obviously had “Too-Much-to-drink.” ‘
Substances’ are not going away, yet, many people are going away permanently, by perishing due to the chemical exposures!… Society will figure this issue out eventually, It is a sourcing, and manufacturing issue, as much as it is a human and moral issue. The legalities become irrelevant when human lives are being lost at such an alarming rate.
Thank You first responders for your unrelenting efforts. Pharmacology producers, please produce the antidote in unlimited amounts for low or no cost. And, on a humorous crazy note, can we add NarCan to the water?? SMDH
Thank you Geo, geat reporting as always. You may have saved his life!