John,

International Overdose Awareness Day is a time to honor the lives of those we’ve lost to overdose, but for many of us, those losses are never far from our hearts and minds.

As we navigate through another year of COVID-19, which has left so many feeling isolated, struggling, and lacking access to the resources they need to survive, overdose is a pandemic within a pandemic. In 2020, more than 93,000 people lost their lives to overdose, a nearly 30 percent increase over 2019 – 72,151 died that year. Overdose death is preventable: losing one person this way is unacceptable. Yet every year, we lose tens of thousands.

On this Overdose Awareness Day, LEAP looks toward solutions. We know that as police, public safety is our responsibility, but public health should never be a criminal justice problem. Our speakers are committed to serving their communities with empathy for those who struggle with substance use disorder and with a realistic view of this crisis. We know we can’t arrest our way out of this. We need to prioritize saving lives.

Today, we honor those who have lost their lives to this struggle, and we acknowledge the work being done to find practical, compassionate solutions: from Chief Tom Synan in Ohio, who recently helped secure hundreds of life-saving doses of naloxone for the Cincinnati Police Department; to Chief Brendan Cox (Ret.), a driving force behind Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, the program allowing police the discretion to direct people toward harm reduction-based services instead of arresting them; to Chief Mike Butler (Ret.), whose Angel Initiative in Longmont, Colorado, brought an entire community together to build a support system for those who need it, our speakers are putting words into action. To hear it in their own words, scroll to the bottom of this message.

Preventing overdose takes community engagement. All of us need to work together, pushing for the resources we know will reduce harm: providing access to services for medical and mental health care; prioritizing safe supply; making sure not only first responders, but also family and friends of those who use opioids, have access to naloxone; and building up programs that keep those struggling with substance use disorder out of the justice system. Because they don’t belong there.

To all who have lost a loved one to overdose, I am one of you. I stand with you. LEAP stands with you. We are working through this together, and we will get there. #EndOverdose

In solidarity,
Diane

Lt. Diane Goldstein (Ret.)
Executive Director