WHEREAS, Overdose Awareness Day is observed on August 31st, and serves as a day to stand alongside the victims and their friends and families, while helping to raise awareness and increase education; and

WHEREAS, in addition to serving as a day of remembrance, Overdose Awareness Day is an opportunity to educate the community and reduce the stigma of addiction and drug-related death, and to encourage those struggling with addiction to reach out for help; and

WHEREAS, according to the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public and Behavioral Health, between 2010 and 2019, there were 4,067 deaths attributed to drug overdose involving opioids in Nevada, and 13,410 emergency department visits and inpatient hospital admissions related to opioid poisoning; and

WHEREAS, the State of Nevada has worked to empower local communities in their fight against opioid overdose by providing resources and support, while expanding the availability of the life-saving drug Naloxone to ensure that first responders, law enforcement, individuals at-risk for opioid overdose, and concerned family and friends, can obtain the medication without a prescription through pharmacies and community organizations; and

WHEREAS, the State of Nevada has established integrated Opioid Treatment and Recovery Centers that support an individual's treatment needs, ensuring that patients get the most appropriate care, and has partnered with organizations that support individuals through recovery by expanding peer support networks and peer support crisis hotlines; and

WHEREAS, elected officials across the state have supported Mobile Outreach Safety Teams, which pair public safety and clinicians in order to meet people where they are in the community, and where they are in their addiction; and

WHEREAS, we join organizations statewide in the fight for Nevada’s families and the future of our state and nation as we work to end addiction and overdose;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, STEVE SISOLAK, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, do hereby proclaim August 31, 2022, as

OPIOID OVERDOSE AWARENESS DAY IN NEVADA