North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition (NCHRC)

RALEIGH – Events are planned in several North Carolina communities in observance of Overdose Awareness Day, Aug. 31. The events aim to inform and educate the public on the devastating effects of the leading cause of injury deaths in the United States - unintentional drug overdose.

Each day, 44 people die nationwide from drug overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. North Carolina’s rate mirrors the nationwide trend where unintentional overdose is projected to become the leading cause of death by injury in the state by 2017, if the current trend is not reversed or abated. The rise in deaths is attributed to medication and drug overdoses, specifically addiction to prescription opioid medications and increasingly heroin. .

RALEIGH – Events are planned in several North Carolina communities in observance of Overdose Awareness Day, Aug. 31. The events aim to inform and educate the public on the devastating effects of the leading cause of injury deaths in the United States - unintentional drug overdose.

Each day, 44 people die nationwide from drug overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. North Carolina’s rate mirrors the nationwide trend where unintentional overdose is projected to become the leading cause of death by injury in the state by 2017, if the current trend is not reversed or abated. The rise in deaths is attributed to medication and drug overdoses, specifically addiction to prescription opioid medications and increasingly heroin. .