August 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day.

What is happening in our territories in the face of this public health crisis?

• According to the Spanish Observatory on Drugs and Addictions (OEDA), in 2020, in the whole State, 974 deaths directly related to an overdose were reported.
• In Catalan prisons, overdoses accounted for 11.4% of all deaths.
• Since 2011, 60 overdose deaths have been reported in the prison setting, from which we must still demand much more to guarantee the most basic human rights.
• On the other hand, outside the prison setting, in the supervised consumption rooms in Catalonia, 176 overdoses have been reversed in 2021 alone.

Overdose deaths are caused by public policies based on the prohibition of some substances and the criminalization of consumers, which leads to social isolation, vulnerability, stigmatization, marginalization and ignorance. In addition, prohibition maintains a monopoly of products in the market without quality control.

For all these reasons, as we do every year, we join this international campaign to raise awareness of one of the worst public health crises in the world, to stimulate action and debate on overdose prevention, to commemorate the people we have lost along the way, and also to remember that these have been unjust and avoidable deaths.

Join us on this day of remembrance and vindication by joining the rally:

• August 31, 2023
• 18.00h
• Plaça Sant Jaume.

Convene: CATNPUD - Xarxa de persones que usen drogues
And all the entities that are part of it: ARSU, Asaupam, AUPA’M, Àmbit Prevenció, CatFAC, DonARSU TOT, Episteme, FAAAT-FDM, ICEERS, Metzineres, REMA and XADUD.

International campaign: International Overdose Awareness Day

#EndOverdose #IOAD2023

Read the manifesto here

[Free distribution]