What is International Overdose Awareness Day?
International Overdose Awareness Day is a global event held on 31 August each year and 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 died or had a permanent injury due to a drug overdose.
International Overdose Awareness Day spreads the message that the tragedy of overdose death is preventable.
What Are the Aims of International Overdose Awareness Day?
- To provide an opportunity for people to publicly mourn loved ones in a safe environment, some for the first time without feeling guilt or shame.
- To include the participation of the highest number of people in International Overdose Awareness Day events and encourage non-denominational involvement.
- To give community members information about the issue of fatal and non-fatal overdose.
- To send a strong message to current and former people who use drugs that they are valued.
- To stimulate discussion about overdose prevention and drug policy.
- To provide basic information on the range of available support services.
- To prevent and reduce drug-related harm by supporting evidence-based policy and practice.
- To inform people around the world about the risk of overdose.
What is an Overdose?
An overdose means taking a quantity of a drug, or combination of drugs, that your body canot cope with. There are a number of signs and symptoms that show someone has overdosed, and these differ with the type of drug used. All drugs can cause an overdose, including prescription medication prescribed by a doctor. It is important to know the right amount and the right time to take your medication. It is also vital to know what drugs should not be mixed, and to seek help if you feel you are not in control of your drug use.
What are the signs of an overdose?
To learn about the signs of prescription drug abuse overdose and overdose response measures, please visit NCAPDA’s Education section on their website.
Show Your Support
Anyone can raise awareness by spreading information about overdose. Overdose is highly stigmatized, and that’s part of the problem.
The stigma surrounding drug use and overdose prevents many individuals from seeking help when they suspect an overdose. Countless deaths may be prevented by destroying this stigma, so people feel safe talking about their struggles and looking for help.
You can get involved by participating in:
- Educational events
- Candlelight vigils for overdose victims
- Walks to honor lost loved ones
- Fundraisers
- Naloxone (Narcan) training
- Overdose awareness t-shirts
- Sharing social media posts
- Distributing overdose fact sheets
- Commemorating someone by adding your tribute here
You can also wear and display symbols of overdose awareness. These symbols include silver badges, purple wristbands, and purple lanyards. Wearing these symbols demonstrates support for those who have suffered from an overdose and their loved ones. Moreover, it brings attention to the issues and has the potential to spark a conversation. They are also a reminder that every life is valuable.
Sources: International Overdose Awareness Day and NCAPDA
Facts and Statistics
Worldwide
According to the most recent World Drug Report, approximately 585,000 people died as a result of drug use in 2017.
Opioids account for the majority of drug-related deaths, and in most cases such deaths are avoidable.
Source: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) ‘World Drug Report 2020’
United States
North America continues to experience the highest drug-related mortality rate in the world, accounting for one- fourth of all drug-related deaths worldwide.
In April 2021, the Centers for Disease Control has estimated that the number of people in the United States who had died from overdose in the 12-month period to the end of September 2020 was 90,237.
Sources: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) ‘World Drug Report 2019’; The Centre for Disease Control ‘12 Month-ending Provisional Number of Drug Overdose Deaths’, as of April 4, 2021
Drug Information & Educational Resources
The resources below can be downloaded and used to spread the message to friends, family, colleagues, and your community to help prevent overdose. Please ensure that posters are displayed thoughtfully and responsibly so as not to be in breach of local by-laws.
All resources are courtesy of the International Overdose Awareness Day. For additional resources, please visit the International Overdose Awareness Day website and NCAPDA’s Awareness Tools page.
For information on reputable organizations and courses please visit NCAPDA’s Resources Links page .
Fact Sheets
Methamphetamines – A4 fact sheet
New Psychoactive Substances – A4 fact sheet
Event Organizer Support Kit:
Get Involved on Social Media:
Change your profile on Facebook or Twitter
Spanish Resources:
Someone you know can be affected by overdose – Spanish – A3 poster
Art 4 Recovery Fundraiser
NCAPDA is accepting donations for original artwork lovingly created by artists Erin Jacques and Jennifer Alba to help build our new Recovery Support Scholarship Fund that will be awarded to North Carolina residents as determined by our program governing committee beginning in the Fall, 2021.
To Make Your Donation for Artwork, click here.
About the Artists
Erin Jacques is originally from the West Coast but has been living in North Carolina for the past 12 years. She is the mother of three amazing children, her oldest son Bryce who would be thirty-three years old this year, passed away on October 17, 2018, from endocarditis followed by two strokes leading to brain death as a result of IV drug use. Erin did not start painting until a year after his passing, she paints as therapy and a way to connect with her son. Most of her paintings are landscapes, she loves the outdoors, and her son also loved the beach, the mountains, and outdoor sports. Bryce was an amazing son and man, very loving and caring, always giving and trying to help others, he loved his family, friends, and job as an ironworker in California’s bay area. He is desperately missed by his family, each painting that Erin creates contains his initials “BT.” The hope is that through these paintings, awareness of this devastating disease will increase, and stigma and shame will be replaced with real help and understanding.
Jennifer Alba is a North Carolina native. She lived in Greensboro most of her life but moved to Raleigh in 2014. She is a mother of 3 boys. Her oldest son Joseph passed away on September 2, 2017, from a drug overdose. Joseph struggled with addiction for 16 years. Soon after his death, Jennifer started painting and hiding Joseph’s (Joe Joe) name in each painting to memorialize him. Painting became a way of therapy for Jennifer, and her other two sons enjoy trying to find Joe Joe’s name in the artwork. Jennifer’s painting style is mostly abstract, using contrasting colors. Along with Erin, Jennifer’s hope through her paintings is to bring awareness to the disease of addiction and, thru our stories, reduce the stigma that surrounds this disease. Our boys were so much more than what our society stigmatizes them as. They were bright, smart, and sensitive human beings that lost their lives to a horrible disease.
Raleigh Rally for Change
Join us for our 6th annual International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) event at the Bicentennial Plaza in Raleigh, NC, “Rally For Change,” on August 31st from 5 – 8:30 pm. The event will include information tables, guest speakers, music, reading of names, and a candlelight vigil to remember those lost in North Carolina to overdose that are in our records. Overdose rescue training and FREE naloxone will also be available.
IOAD is a time for remembrance as well as a time to act. While we remember and reflect on the lives lost to overdose, we also gather to support those in recovery and those who need to be. Neither path is an easy journey, but together we can find ways to prevent fatal overdose.
See below for opportunities to purchase a T-shirt to commemorate the day, help raise funds for our new Recovery Scholarship Fund, and consider joining us as a sponsor of this important event. Our sponsorship packet can be accessed below.
Memorialize a Loved One
These are multiple ways in which you can have your loved one memorialized during our Rally For Change event:
– Name read during the candlelight vigil
– Name added to the memorial banner
Sponsorship Program
NCAPDA relies on our generous sponsors each year to hold our IOAD “Rally For Change” event. In addition to covering our expenses this year, funds remaining after expenses will be applied to our new Recovery Scholarship Fund that will be used to help support entry into treatment and recovery programs for North Carolina Residents. Please consider joining us as a 2021 sponsor! Go here to make your sponsorship donation.
T-Shirts & Hoodies to Support Recovery
Much too often, the only thing that keeps someone from seeking recovery treatment is the initial cost of getting into the program. All proceeds from the sale of T-shirts and hoodies will be used for NCAPDA’s new Recovery Scholarship Fund to help ease the financial burden of entry into treatment and recovery programs for North Carolina residents.