25th year of International Overdose Awareness Day

The 25th International Overdose Awareness Day feels more important than ever, writes Lee Vines, Deputy Manager of Kairos’ Move-on team.

With new drugs appearing and substances increasingly being mixed with other dangerous drugs, overdose awareness remain vital. This week is also a time to remember the friends, loved ones, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters who have lost their lives to overdose, and to recognise the devastating impact that loss has on families, friends and whole communities.

Let’s continue to promote recovery, overdose awareness and naloxone. As Move-on support workers, we have been trained and issued with naloxone. I have personally used naloxone to help someone during an overdose and, in a previous role, I was a Naloxone Champion. I have seen first-hand the devastation that drug use and overdose can cause, and the ripple effect it can have on so many people when somebody loses their life.

At Kairos, we are also fortunate to see the other side of that ripple effect. We see people find recovery, rebuild their lives, grow and blossom, and then pass the message of recovery on to others. That is something worth celebrating and protecting.

Let’s keep talking about recovery, keep raising overdose awareness and keep reminding people that help is available.

Together we are stronger. Recovery is possible.