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With the world in an opioid epidemic, Franklin County government has taken steps to combat the problem by proclaiming Aug. 31 as International Overdose Awareness Day to bring attention to reverse a deadly pattern.

Representatives from the Franklin County Reentry Program, Franklin County Prevention Coalition and its Bridge Program, the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, the Sheriff’s Office, the Tennessee Rural Health Association, Juvenile Court and others attended a special ceremony at the Franklin County Annex Building where County Mayor Chris Guess read aloud and signed a proclamation.

Statistics have shown that in the United States, there were 109,600 drug-overdose-related deaths in a 12-month period ending Jan. 31, 2023, at a rate of 300 deaths per day.

From 1999 to 2020, nearly 841,000 people died from drug overdoses with prescriptions and illicit opioids responsible for 500,000 of those deaths.

With the rise in drug overdoses in recent years, the International Overdose Awareness Day was established as a global event on Aug. 31 each year with a purpose to raise awareness of overdoses, reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths and acknowledge the grief felt by families and friends.

The first International Overdose Awareness Day was held in 2001 in Australia with 6,000 silver ribbons distributed across the country and into New Zealand. Since then, the Overdose Awareness Day has grown and is recognized in more than 40 countries.

Guess said that in addition to proclaiming Aug. 31 as International Overdose Awareness Day in Franklin County, he was declaring September as National Recovery Month to bring further attention to substance-abuse issues.

He said that many lives in Franklin County have been negatively impacted by substance abuse and overdoses, and the county needs to do what it can to improve the conditions.

The proclamation says that 3,814 Tennesseans lost their lives in 2021 to drug overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, community-based organizations and grants in Franklin County can provide access to prevention, treatment and recovery resources, such as access to education, access to treatment and access to naloxone, which is proven to reduce the prevalence of drug overdoses in a non-judgmental manner while also reducing the harm associated with ongoing substance abuse, the proclamation says.

“We encourage relatives and friends of people who use drugs to implement preventative measures, recognize the signs of overdose and be prepared to respond with naloxone and support their loved ones in assessing appropriate treatment, medications and recovery-support services as overdoses are preventable and recovery is possible,” the proclamation says. “We acknowledge the grief felt by families and friends remembering those who have died or had permanent injuries resulting from a drug overdose.”

The proclamation says that Franklin County recognizes International Overdose Awareness Day as an opportunity to remember community residents, friends and family who have been lost to overdose deaths and promote strategies that can prevent future overdose deaths.

“We recognize that National Recovery Month increases awareness and understanding of substance-use disorders, reduces stigma for people who have a substance-use disorder and celebrates people in recovery,” the proclamation says, referring to the designation for the month of September.