International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) is a global event held on August 31st each year that aims to raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of a drug-related death. It also acknowledges the grief felt by families and friends remembering those who have met with death or permanent injury as a result of drug overdose. IOAD spreads the message that the tragedy of overdose death is preventable.

The first International Overdose Awareness Day was organized in 2001 by two harm reduction advocates in Melbourne, Australia. They organized a local event and give silver ribbons out for anyone who wished to commemorate a friend, partner or family member who had passed away. Any member of the community, even if not directly affected, could wear a ribbon to offer their condolences to those who had suffered an overdose.

Since then, hundreds of other NGOs and human rights organizations have become involved in International Overdose Awareness Day. Though every participant approaches the day in their own way, the campaign is centered around the following goals:

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Stories and Testimonials

KG

When I was 18 years old I attended a music festival, which I did fairly often at the time as I was experimenting with drugs and raving. I arrived to the festival with a few friends and decided to take about 7 hits of LSD which was fine and dandy for the most part. Since I was heavily abusing psychedelics at the time, I had a massive tolerance (yes, you can abuse psychedelics). A few hours later, I decided to consume 2 “mollies”, which ended up giving positive results for MDPV, a potentially fatal cathinone or “bath salt”, using a DanceSafe reagent kit. 30 minutes following the consumption of the “mollies”, I began to lose my sense of self, entering a full-fledged drug induced psychosis. I ended up running away from my friends, I had felt like the world was ending and I had superhuman strength, much of the peak experience is a blur to me. I vaguely remember bowing and sitting in meditation pose in front of the paramedics to honor them for their work protecting the patrons of the festival. I eventually ran into a group of Law Enforcement Officers and I was “assisted” to the ground, ending up with my face on the sewer water seeping from the concrete sanitary sewer. I remember sitting in the back of the police car and something I said to the LEO made him punch me in the face, while I was handcuffed sitting in the back of the car. I ended up going to jail, instead of a hospital, still in a psychosis from which I slowly came down from. Following this experience; I caught my first felonies, lost some good friends, and I started to sink deeper into my depression and trauma elicited from the experience. In hindsight, It was one of the most dissociating, ego-shattering, and unfathomable experiences of my life. It serves as a reminder for myself about the importance of harm reduction and ending the war on drugs. This is completely preventable and nobody should have to go through this because they are curious about experimenting with drugs.  

 

Anonymous

10 years ago I lost my cousin to a heroin overdose. No one in my family saw it coming. He wasn’t the stereotypical person the media might label a “junkie”. He was near the top of his class, had just accepted a scholarship to Brown University, and was an avid soccer player with dreams to one day try out for the national team. The thought that he would even be using heroin never crossed my 13 year old mind. Then one day, I came home from school and my Dad said he was gone. He died alone in his car after dosing in the parking lot of a grocery store, late at night when no one was there. He was 18.

Had he not felt so stigmatized about his habit that he felt the need to go there in order to use, maybe he would have been in a position to receive help. Maybe if our society didn’t tell us that using heroin is something to be ashamed of, he might have felt empowered to seek help rather than just slip further and further into substance abuse. We can’t let people continue to be afraid of being honest about their drug use. End the stigma, and let’s get people the help they need.

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Facts About Overdose

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How is Overdose Preventable?

As drug-related overdoses continue to increase around the world, it is imperative that we find medical, educational, and policy solutions that will help save lives. An approach to overdose grounded in harm reduction and scientific evidence is the best way to reduce the amounts of preventable deaths in the United States and the rest of the world.

Naloxone

Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is a low-cost overdose reversal drug that was first approved by the FDA in 1971. It is an opioid antagonist that blocks the brain cell receptors activated by heroin and other opioids, temporarily restoring normal breathing within two to three minutes of administration and buys the victim of an overdose more time until medical assistance arrives. It is important to remember that Naloxone alone does not save ves, and to always call 911 when you administer naloxone to someone so they can get the medical attention they need.

911 Good Samaritan Policies

Also known as Medical Amnesty Policies, these are life-saving measures that enable people to make responsible decisions by shielding them from punishment when they call for medical help during an emergency relating to alcohol or other drugs. Since the threat of punitive policies can often cause hesitation during confusing and stressful situations, the existence of a Call 911 Good Samaritan Policy is essential to ensuring that people are able to stay alive and receive help when they are in trouble.

Evidence-Based Drug Education

Providing practical, life-saving information to people who use opioids can dramatically reduce the likelihood of fatal overdose. For example, a major factor in opioid overdoses is the mixing of different drugs such as alcohol or cocaine when using opioids. New Mexico has undertaken an outreach and education initiative to inform people who use drugs about the risks of using multiple substances simultaneously. The results have been a small decrease in drug-related deaths among young people. It is important that when educating young people about the causes of overdose, we take an approach that rejects the zero tolerance model and embraces harm reduction education. —–

Resources about Overdose and Prevention

SSDP Just Say Know Peer Education Program

Harm Reduction Coalition – Overdose Prevention

Harm Reduction International

IOAD Links and Resources

Overdose Prevention Alliance

SAMHSA Opioid Treatment Program Directory

Comprehensive Guide to Naloxone Around the World