Task force raises awareness for International Overdose Awareness Day

NEW BERN, N.C. (WITN) - Counties across Eastern Carolina are raising awareness of efforts to combat the ongoing opioid crisis in North Carolina on International Overdose Awareness Day.

According to the Overdose Awareness Day website, observances of the day began in 2001 in Melbourne, Australia. The day has since been endorsed by a number of organizations all across the world to commemorate those who have those their lives to drug overdoses.

In New Bern, the Craven County Opioid Task Force held a special opioid and meth exposure training for community members to help them spot the signs of someone who might be intoxicated and on the brink of an overdose.

Task force officials say signs include slowed breathing, unconsciousness with a gurgling snore, dilated pupils, and a blue-tinted discoloration of the skin.

While they say progress has been made with recent arrests through the Craven County Sheriff’s Office’s drug investigations, officials say the impacts are still felt in the community.

“The families affected is the residue of the drugs being put on the streets,” Coordinator Jasmine Canady said. “You still have those families and loved ones, individuals, that are still suffering from this opioid epidemic. So while it’s good to get the supply off the streets, again, the epidemic still has those families affected.”

The task force says it also demonstrated the process of administering Narcan, which is used to treat an immediate overdose.

The sheriff’s office and Craven County Health Department are working to provide resources for inmates upon re-entry and for individuals in the county community that are in need of help.

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein released a statement in commemoration of International Overdose Awareness Day. It says, in part:

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