Events bring attention to drug overdose fatalities

With much of the public's attention focused on deaths resulting from diseases, pandemics, traffic accidents, firearms and other causes, it's often easy to overlook one of the fastest-growing causes of death in America -- drug overdoses.

For that reason, groups across the country and around the world -- including here in Cape Girardeau -- will observe International Overdose Awareness Day on Tuesday, the last day of August.

Overdose Awareness Day events are scheduled that day at the Gibson Recovery Center and at Capaha Park.

Activities outside the Gibson Center, 1112 Linden St., will start at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and will feature remarks by overdose survivors and treatment professionals, a memorial balloon release and candlelight vigil to commemorate the growing number of people who lose their lives each year because of drug overdoses.

Partners in the Gibson Center event, which is free and open to the public, include FCC (Family Counseling Center) Behavioral Health and Community Counseling Center.

Recover Out Loud Harm Reduction and Recovery Services in Cape Girardeau will host an overdose awareness event from 6 until 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in downtown Cape Girardeau at the Broadway floodgate. The free and public gathering will include chalking the names of overdose victims and remembering family members and others who have been affected by drug overdoses.

"We will recite the names and have a moment of silence to honor those lost," according to a news release about the event.

Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, will also be available at the Capaha Park event. Naloxone is a medication used to block the effects of opioid overdoses.

Record overdose numbers

According to data released earlier this month by the Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC), drug overdose deaths in the United States reached a record high of 93,331 in 2020. Although the CDC said that figure is subject to adjustment, it is certain to be at least 20,000 more than the previous record set in 2019 and was the largest single-year percentage increase on record since 1999.

Since 2015, the percentage of all U.S. deaths caused by drug overdoses has risen from 1.9% to 2.8%, according to the CDC, even as COVID-19 increased the total number of deaths in America by more than 300,000 in 2020.

In Missouri, drug overdose deaths increased by nearly 20% in 2020 compared to 2019, according to the CDC data. In 2019 the state had 1,603 overdose fatalities. That number grew to 1,921 last year.

Scott Moyers, director of clinical support services at the Gibson Center, said he has "no doubt" the COVID-19 pandemic was a major factor in the higher number of overdose fatalities in 2020.

"People felt isolated and didn't have access to the resources they were relying on," he said.

Drug overdoses, Moyers said, kills more people in the United States each year than breast cancer, guns and car accidents combined.

"This is unacceptable," Moyers continued and said people often choose to ignore the problem rather than focusing on solutions.

"We need to be talking about overdoses and how to prevent them," he said. "We can't afford for this country's drug overdose problem to be hidden away like a family secret. Addiction has no face. These are our brothers, mothers, fathers and sisters. Addiction can literally happen to anyone."

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