SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — A field of 1,203 purple flags -- each representing a life lost in the county due to a drug overdose in the past year -- awaits visitors to the County Administration Center in commemoration of International Overdose Awareness Day Saturday.
The CAC will also be lit purple Saturday night in honor of the event.
On Thursday, county leaders discussed resources for those at risk of overdosing, highlighting locations where naloxone, which quickly reverses opioid overdoses, and fentanyl test strips are available.
The annual event is on Aug. 31 and started in Australia in 2001 and is recognized by San Diego County as well. The day is part of a campaign intended to "end overdoses, remember without stigma those who have died and acknowledge the grief of family and friends left behind," reads the IOAD website.
While the 1,203 flags paint a bleak portrait of addiction, there are 97 fewer than in 2023, organizers said.
In the United States, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 105,303 drug overdose deaths, two-thirds of which came from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
The estimated number of people using opioids globally has doubled from 26-36 million people in 2010 to 61.3 million in 2020, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reports.
Fentanyl can be 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
"Fentanyl is almost impossible to detect on your own so people may not even be aware they are taking it," said Dr. Seem Shah, interim deputy public health officer for the county. "In some cases, as little as 2 milligrams is enough to cause an overdose or even death."
According to the county's annual Substance Use and Overdose Prevention report card, the number of people who accidentally overdosed in the county in 2023 fell to 1,203 from 1,300 in 2022. Fentanyl deaths also dropped, from 814 to 749.
"We know treatment works for substance use disorders and we have to make it more accessible," said Luke Bergmann, director of behavioral health for the county on Thursday. "We need to build connections between the treatment services that we have established and support, and the people they would benefit."
According to the county, substance use treatment resources and support services are available 24/7 by calling the Access and Crisis Line at 888- 724-7240 or the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
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