Friend, tell CBS News to ask Vance and Walz for their overdose prevention plans at the vice presidential debate. 

If you’ve been following our coverage of the presidential debates, you know the overdose crisis has not been getting the attention it deserves from the candidates or the moderators. But with your help, we’ve kept up pressure to make the overdose crisis a priority at the debates.  

This Tuesday, October 1, is another chance to make our demands clear with the first vice presidential debate between Senator JD Vance and Governor Tim Walz on CBS News. And with no other debates confirmed, this may be our last chance to demand a real conversation about the overdose crisis on the national debate stage. 

Speak up now: tell CBS News moderators Norah O'Donnell and Margaret Brennan to ask Vance and Walz about the overdose crisis at Tuesday’s debate.

As one of the most urgent public health emergencies we face, Americans deserve answers for how candidates plan to address the overdose crisis and help people who are struggling with addiction. Overdose deaths are preventable, but only if our elected leaders replace failed drug war policies with the health solutions that are proven to work. 

Effective solutions center health and support, not punishment. If the next president is serious about saving lives, they must: 

• Invest in lifesaving overdose prevention services, including greater access to the overdose reversal drug naloxone, drug checking tools like fentanyl test strips, syringe service programs, and overdose prevention centers. 
• Expand access to evidence-based treatment for addiction such as medications like methadone and buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder. 
• Address Americans’ concerns about fentanyl and related substances by supporting domestic health policies that are proven to help people and save lives without the threat of criminalization. 

Although the overdose crisis has been overlooked, we must continue demanding that it gets the attention it deserves. Please help us do it by signing our petition urging CBS News to ask Vance and Walz about how they plan to save lives and address America’s devastating overdose crisis.