Raise Overdose Awareness And Save Lives

International Overdose Awareness Day — August 31 — is the world's most extensive annual campaign to end overdose. Drug overdose has impacted every community across the nation. Fentanyl has been the primary contributor. The drug is found in fake prescription drugs and illicit street drugs.

Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported of the nearly 110,000 drug overdoses in 2022, about three-quarters were attributed to opioids.

In Maryland, there were close to 2,800 overdose-related fatalities in 2020. Between 2011 and 2020, overdose deaths increased from 671 to 2,799, a 317% increase. In Anne Arundel County, from 2017 to 2021, opioid-related deaths accounted for 9.16% of the total opioid-related deaths in the state. The average number of deaths in the county was 206.8 per year.

Most of these deaths are unintentional, and the individual does not know what they are taking, or the drug is laced with a lethal dose of fentanyl. An accidental overdose, for example, occurs when someone uses drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine, or fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl.

Overdose prevention campaigns work tirelessly to prevent these deaths, especially among young people. There are resources, tools, and information that individuals, families, and communities can use to increase awareness, prevent overdose and save lives.

Locally, the Anne Arundel County Department of Health provides System Training, Education, and Prevention Services (STEPS), which is substance misuse prevention programming and harm reduction services to the county. There is also the Anne Arundel Peers Offering Wellness and Education Resources (AA POWER) and the Opioid Misuse Prevention Program (OMPP), among others.

Nationally, the International Overdose Awareness Day website provides extensive resources and ways to get involved. The National Harm Reduction Coalition offers evidence-based strategies that reduce the risk of overdose. Finally, the National Safety Council provides resources for the workplace.

Overdose is preventable, and anyone can begin increasing their awareness right now. Initially, it is crucial to keep in mind that stigma or the fear of stigma stops individuals from sharing their addiction problems with their friends or family. Stigma can come from individuals, family members, clinicians, or the community. Begin by removing the stigma.

Moreover, you should become familiar with the facts about fentanyl and fentanyl analogs. Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Experts also recommend becoming familiar with polysubstance use facts. Polysubstance use occurs when two or more drugs are taken together, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

The primary risk factors associated with overdose include mixing drugs, tolerance, quality of the drug, using alone, age and physical health, mode of administration, and previous non-fatal overdoses.

Finally, familiarize yourself with life-saving naloxone. The Anne Arundel County Department of Health's overdose response program offers free training and a free naloxone kit to community members. The county's department of health also installed Health-to-Go vending machines, which provide naloxone free of charge.

Every individual action matters and coming together as a community creates a decisive collective action. Overdose awareness is for everyone, such as people who use drugs and those who don’t, families who have lost loved ones, health care workers, advocates, and activists. These are necessary steps everyone can take to save lives, protect communities, and safeguard families.

Michael Leach has spent most of his career as a health care professional specializing in substance use and addiction recovery. He is a certified clinical medical assistant (CCMA) and the public relations officer at DRS.