On 31st August, the Moray community will join with others all over the world in coming together to remember those who have lost their lives to drug overdose.
In 2020, 1,339 people in Scotland died from a drug overdose. This is the seventh year in a row where there has been a record number of drug overdose deaths.
International Overdose Awareness Day on 31st August is the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember without stigma those who have died, and acknowledge the grief of the family and friends left behind.
The campaign is backed by a new dedicated website Stop The Deaths that tells people the signs of an overdose; what to do if you are in a position to help someone in an overdose and how to access a freely available medication that reverses the effects of opioids like heroin, methadone and codeine. It’s called naloxone.
Naloxone is a medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid-related overdose. Opioids are drugs like codeine, morphine, tramadol, fentanyl, heroin and methadone.
To mark the day, partner organisation Arrows – which provides substance use support services to individuals and families – is inviting people to join them for a remembrance event to celebrate the lives of those our community has lost to an overdose.
The event in the Bow Café, just off Elgin High Street, will begin at 1.30pm and offers people the opportunity to write a message or tie a ribbon to the memory tree. Along with live music and refreshments, the opportunity will be taken to share harm reduction information.
International Overdose Awareness Day spreads the message about the tragedy of drug overdose death and that drug overdose is preventable.
Too many people don’t know the signs of an overdose or what they should do. Arrows is a training provider for Naloxone, the life-saving drug which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, and can supply Naloxone kits.
