On International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD), we can transform grief, memory, frustration, and hope into action while recommitting to do so until we reconvene next August 31st.
For the last 25 years, International Overdose Awareness Day has been held on August 31st. This day holds a complex set of responsibilities and emotions, just as our mission at SAFE Project does.
It reminds us of the weight of grief that so many live with in the wake of millions of overdoses, as well as the individual losses that have impacted each of us directly. It offers us space to remember and celebrate the lives of our loved ones, despite the tragic ending of their stories. It also allows their stories to continue.
It provides an opportunity to push through the stigma that keeps so many silent or afraid of shining a light on substance use, addiction, and overdose. Each year, on this day, many learn for the first time, or reminded of the tangible ways we can prevent overdose deaths.
On International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD), we can transform grief, memory, frustration, and hope into action while recommitting to do so until we reconvene next August 31st.
A challenge of this day of awareness is that the overdose crisis is complex. Every individual life lost can be tied to multiple causes and dynamics – from substances themselves to stigma and policy challenges. Additionally, the overdose crisis is ever-evolving. What may serve as a day to remember the impact of the generational spiral of prescription opioids and heroin to some shares space and reverence with those who have experienced overdose as an acute outcome of the wave of fentanyl within the illicit drug supply.
For some, IOAD is about opioids, yet the day is not limited to just one type of overdose. Rather, it is shaped each year by the current trends and tragedies while seeking not to move past or leave behind the millions of lives lost. We build our capacity to navigate the risks of today while holding space for learning the lessons of the past and seeking to not reproduce them in the future.
So, this year, on International Overdose Awareness Day, we grieve all those that we’ve lost to overdose. We grieve the promise that their lives held, even when stigma kept many from seeing it. We grieve that their lives were worth saving, and many could have been saved. We grieve that there’s still so much work to do, even after all of these years. And we will keep doing it. Together.
Engage in International Overdose Awareness Day this year:
Each year, International Overdose Awareness Day also serves as a fitting kickoff for September’s National Recovery Month and October’s National Substance Use Prevention Month. We encourage you to stay connected to SAFE Project throughout the next two months to learn and consider ways you can contribute to this work within your community.
Learn More
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Overdose in 2026: What’s Changing, What’s Working, and What Comes Next
Since 2015, over 1,000,000 people in the United States have died from a drug overdose. While this total continues to rise each year, it is critical that we regularly revisit the current trends and dynamics within the overdose epidemic.
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SAFE Project Response to HHS Request for Comment on Chronic Disease of Addiction
SAFE Project submitted the following letter outlining actionable steps the Department could take to improve the prevention, treatment, and recovery of substance use disorder and mental illness within their Great American Recovery Initiative.
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Empowering Student Voices Through Science, Prevention, and Storytelling
As part of the Mental Health and Substance Use Prevention Course, selected high school and undergraduate students explored harm reduction, overdose prevention, stigma, recovery pathways, and categories of prevention (primary, secondary, tertiary). They then translated that learning into original projects rooted in research, creativity, and personal insight.
