Los Angeles County leaders are taking urgent steps to combat drug infiltration in juvenile halls after recent hospitalizations due to suspected drug exposure. Nine individuals were rushed to the hospital following incidents at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall. County supervisors voted to enhance security measures, including installing airport-style body scanners and improving drug-sniffing dogs. A tutor was charged with bringing large quantities of Xanax into the facility. Supervisors express concern about ongoing drug crises, noting that young people often appear high, highlighting the severity of the situation.
"Probation doesn't even allow our young people in Los Padrinos to hug their mothers out of fear that drugs or contraband is being passed in that manner," said Supervisor Janice Hahn, who spearheaded the motion. "But drugs keep getting in."
The hospitalizations last week included eight staff and one youth. A department spokesperson said there was one suspected overdose and the rest of the hospitalizations were due to "possible exposure to an unidentified substance."
Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa told the board Tuesday that two of the people hospitalized had epileptic seizures and another had a "cardiac event." "It's a moment of crisis and has been for some time," said Viera Rosa.
Hahn said the drug crisis inside Los Padrinos was "unlike any I've ever seen." Young people, she says, are often high when she visits.
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