The Tennessee Senate has signed a proclamation officially recognizing August 31st as International Overdose Awareness Day.

According to the CDC (STATCAST-Week of September 9, 2019) over 770,000 Americans have died from drug overdoses across the US since 1999. The total number of deaths jumped from 16,849 in 1999 to 70,237 in 2017. Tennessee accounted for 1,818 deaths in 2018.   In 2019, the national overdose figure increased to a record high of 70,980, reversing a historic decline. Knox County experienced a 20% increase in suspected overdose deaths from 156 deaths through July 31, 2019 to 188 deaths on July 31, 2020. As we have learned over the last 5 years, despite drastic improvements, statistics on accidental overdose deaths are largely under reported and unfortunately inaccurate.

Thank you to Jessica Sharp Akhrass for helping us to draft this proclamation and present it to the Senate. Thank you to Senator Randy McNally and Senator Becky Massey for signing this proclamation to recognize International Overdose Awareness Day. 

Recognition of this day and awareness of the opioid epidemic puts us one step closer to #EndOverdose #IOAD2020Proclamations