On International Overdose Awareness Day Wednesday, a large group gathered at Peace and Justice Plaza in downtown Chapel Hill to remember those lost to drug overdose.
Friends and family read the names of loved ones lost to a public health crisis statistic show is now the leading cause of death in the United States for people under the age of 50.
The numbers are increasing in recent years. In 2020, over 3000 North Carolinians died from drug overdoses. In 2021, that number increased. So far in 2022, UNC professor of family medicine Dr. Evan Ashkin said, the number might be as high as 12 a day.
“This is a problem that impacts our entire society, touches everybody, touches all classes, all colors, affects children, affects adults,” Ashkin told the crowd.
Local emergency services saw an increase in both the number of reported overdoses and the number of calls related to overdose. Orange County Emergency Medical reported receiving 94 overdose-related calls in 2020 and 134 calls in 2021.
However, there might soon be more money to help county and community groups tackle the crisis. Earlier this year, a $26 billion settlement was reach with major pharmaceutical companies and Johnson & Johnson, the companies found at fault for the decades-long opioid epidemic that left more than 20,000 people dead across North Carolina.
Chair of the Orange County Commissioners Renée Price told the crowd Wednesday the county will receive $6.8 million from the settlement to support treatment, recovery, and harm reduction in local communities ravished by the opioid epidemic. Price said the commissioners will tackle distribution of those funds when they meet again in September.
Organizers gave out treatment information and backpacks containing Noloxone, a rapid medicine reversing opioid overdose. In total, 65 backpacks were passed out around downtown Chapel Hill and on campus in the Pit Wednesday.
Community organizers and local elected leaders spoke to a large crowd during International Overdose Awareness Day in downtown Chapel Hill. Photo by Sam Bermas-Dawes
Gayane Chambless of Orange Partnership for Alcohol and Drug Free Youth said the collaborative local effort helps serve those struggling with addiction in all types of ways.
“We need to look at it from prevention to intervention, she said, “And then into treatment and then supporting recovery.”
Megan Peevey is a Peer Support Specialist at Recovery Communities of North Carolina and in recovery herself. She said the team effort behind the scene is crucial.
“I think that coming together and realizing that whatever we can do to keep people alive, to get them connected to the support that they need, is really important because at the end of the day,” Peevey said. “Whatever it is, people are dying. So how do we how do we try to keep them alive long enough to get them connected to recovery and change their lives.”
Those struggling with addiction can call the NAMI NC HelpLine. This is an information and referral service for North Carolinians in need of counseling support for substance abuse, alcohol addiction, and suicidal tendencies. The help hotline number is available from Monday all through to Friday starting from 9 a.m.- 5 p.m., EST. The line is 1-800-451-9682.
Naloxone, or Narcan, can be used to reverse a drug overdose. The Orange County Health Department offers free Naloxone kits and training by appointment. Call 919-245-2400.
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