Governor McCrory Proclaims North Carolina Overdose Awareness Day | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Raleigh, N.C.     Governor Pat McCrory proclaimed August 31 as Overdose Awareness Day in North Carolina calling on citizens to be aware of the dangers of drug overdose and the efforts underway across the state that address substance use.

    "Reducing the number of overdose-related deaths in North Carolina is a top priority," Governor McCrory said. "Drug overdose is preventable, and we affirm our commitment and focus on this problem and acknowledge the grief felt by families and friends who have lost a loved one to overdose."

    North Carolina has seen 8,611 deaths attributed to unintentional opiate overdose from 1999 to 2014.

    On June 20, Governor McCrory signed Senate Bill 734, authorizing a statewide standing order for Naloxone, making this life-saving opioid reversal drug available without prescription. North Carolina's Good Samaritan Law, signed by Governor McCrory in 2013, cleared the way for law enforcement to carry and use naloxone. It is now carried by officers at more than 70 law enforcement agencies across the state.

    Authorizing the standing order for naloxone is the latest in a series of commitments by Governor McCrory to expand resources for those living with substance use disorders. In addition to the Mental Health and Substance Use Task Force, co-chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Rick Brajer and N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Martin, the governor also established the Crisis Solutions Initiative and the Governor's Substance Abuse and Underage Drinking Prevention and Treatment Task Force which resulted in the statewide Talk It Out initiative.

    "So often this day is a day of grieving for those we have lost," said Health and Human Services Secretary Rick Brajer. "But Overdose Awareness Day is also a day of hope. In 2015, North Carolina reached a major milestone when the number of opioid overdose reversals from the use of naloxone exceeded the number of overdose deaths."

    More than 4,000 lives have been saved in North Carolina using Naloxone, according to the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition from August 2013 to August 2016.

    To read the proclamation, click here.

• Contact:McCrory Communications
•     govpress@nc.gov