Re “How was alleged fraud by nonprofit found?” (March 3): In light of unfortunate news about the county contract for naloxone distribution held by the Harm Reduction Coalition of San Diego and the arrest of its COO on suspicion of embezzlement, it is important to highlight the history of lifesaving harm reduction work done by other organizations such as A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing), which has contributed to a decline in overdose deaths in the county. Since 1999, the organization has worked to educate the public to destigmatize drug addiction and influence drug policy away from punitive criminal justice approaches to those of harm reduction and public health. A New PATH was the pioneer in San Diego in 2014 to distribute and train people to use naloxone, a drug that safely reverses opioid overdoses. It now reports having trained over 40,000 individuals to use naloxone, with 3,530 overdose reversals reported. Despite challenges, its lifesaving work continues.
— Ken Khoury, San Diego