Families Urged Elected Officials to Expand Access to Lifesaving Overdose Prevention and Addiction Treatment Services, and Halt the Wave of Laws that Punish People who Struggle with Drugs

To mark International Overdose Awareness Day, families who have lost loved ones to overdose hosted a press conference on Aug. 26 urging lawmakers to prioritize health-based solutions that prevent these tragic losses. Through their powerful personal testimonies, the speakers called to halt and reverse the wave of harsh drug-related laws rather than helping those struggling with addiction.

For 25 years, communities and organizations across the globe have recognized International Overdose Awareness Day as a time to both honor loved ones who lost their lives to overdose and to raise awareness about the overdose crisis. This past year, around 70,000 lives were lost to overdose in the United States. More than 40% of people in the United States know someone who has died of an overdose.

Watch the press conference here.

This event was a call-to-action to end the failed drug war, which has filled U.S. prisons and jails with people who live with addiction for decades. An estimated one in five people in prison and jails are incarcerated due to a drug-related offense, the majority of whom are people of color.

“Black communities, communities of color, and poor communities have disproportionately carried the consequences of criminalization and incarceration. At a time when we are finally seeing overdose deaths decline, we should be investing even more in the strategies that are helping people stay alive, not taking those resources away,” said Kimberly Douglas, who lost her 17-year-old son Bryce. She is the Founder of Bryce’s Treehouse, a national effort supporting nonprofits advancing mental health and drug policy reform in communities of color. “Bryce is the reason I will continue to speak out and remind the world that behind every overdose statistic is a human being.”

Speakers also specifically addressed the harmful effect of drug-induced homicide laws, which undercut Good Samaritan Laws that provide people with legal immunity if they call emergency services in the event of an overdose.

“Someone used drugs with Jeffrey, and when things went wrong, they fled the scene rather than calling for help and staying behind. That’s why I am opposed to drug-induced homicide laws. Those laws only ensure that more sons and daughters will die alone when they could have been saved by giving a second chance at life. We need to shift our thinking so that our drug policies increase the chances of healing, rather than adding more trauma to the already traumatized,” said James Moore, who lost his son, Jeffrey, to an overdose. Since his loss, James has been a tireless advocate and is the founder of the Recovery Rides Bicycle Program, which partners with local treatment centers.

“All drug-induced homicide laws are going to do is put more men and women who have mental health problems in prison. It is going to take more poor people and more people of color and lock them up. Cages are not going to work. Care and compassion are the only ways to get through this,” said Aisha Betancourt Esquivel, Founder of the The Breanaland Foundation, which consists of four moms who have lost children, three to substance loss and one to suicide. Aisha lost her daughter BreAna in May 2019 as the result of substance use disorder.

To prevent other families from experiencing the devastating loss of those they love, speakers at the conference called on lawmakers to embrace life-affirming, evidence-based health responses proven to save lives. This includes expanding access to medications for opioid use disorder, increasing overdose prevention services, and distributing naloxone in communities that need it most.

“We need treatment on demand. We need access to life-saving medications like methadone and buprenorphine. What we’re currently seeing is a push to the abstinence-based model which is deadly, especially for people with opioid use disorder,” said Tamara Olt, M.D., Executive Director of Broken No More. Tamara lost her 16-year-old son Josh. “We know what works, so let’s stop putting people in prisons.”

During the powerful event, family members addressed stigma and the importance of having open conversations about addiction, overdose, and prevention.

“The stigma, society, medical professionals , the criminal justice system, all failed my brother. A lot of people I knew didn’t want to talk about addiction/overdose; parents didn’t talk about it, they were ashamed or were judged. Siblings would not talk about it, often because they did not want to take away from their parent’s pain. Not talking about these things—- this very real crisis happening to our loved ones—- further isolates families, deepens stigma and shame, and may prevent individuals/families from reaching out for life saving help. We need to show the overdose crisis is touching everyone’s lives,” said Kelly Sirianni, CPRP (Certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation Professional), CPDP (Certified Co-Occurring Disorder Professional), who lost her brother, Joey, to an overdose. She is an advocate for health-based solutions to the overdose crisis. “I really believe that harm reduction will save lives, and that we need more treatment focusing not only their struggle with this disease, but fostering hope within them, reminding them that their life does means something.”

Kimberly’s daughter, Indiyah Jackson, spoke to her experience of losing her brother Bryce and becoming an advocate with Bryce’s Treehouse. “For me, being involved with Bryce’s Treehouse has given me a way to really carry my brother’s legacy forward. There are so many young people who think overdose death can never touch their family or circle until it actually happens. I want people that are my age to understand that this crisis is closer to us than sometimes we may realize.” Indiyah said. “I want us to have honest conversations about what substance use is without shame or judgment attached to it.”

This event is organized by Broken No More, a group that, with support from sister organization Grief Recovery After Substance Passing (GRASP), helps thousands of families through the grief of losing their loved one to overdose. Broken No More families are organizing events across the country in honor of Overdose Awareness Day.