Narconon New Life Retreat Supports International Overdose Awareness Day
Aug.31st, 2017 marked the 16th Annual International Overdose Awareness Day, a time to remember those lost to drug overdoses and spread education to help prevent future loss of life.
BATON ROUGE, La., September 4, 2017 (Newswire.com) - This year, Narconon New Life Retreat participated in their first ever International Overdose Awareness Day. To commemorate the day, the staff of Narconon New Life Retreat visited the State Capital building in Baton Rouge where they flew a banner highlighting the day and passed out free drug education and prevention materials.
According to the Center for Disease Control, "In 2007, approximately 27,000 unintentional drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States, one death every 19 minutes." In 2015, the number of fatal overdoses almost doubled, skyrocketing up to 52,404 according to the Washington Post. Now more than ever, we must aggressively address the escalation of opiate overdoses in our country by providing effective long-term drug rehab programs.
Even though life is still full of problems and challenges, I have learned how to grow from these experiences and have found a path I am happy with.
Bryan Wesson, Graduate
Narconon New Life Retreat graduate, Bryan Wesson knows the seriousness of this, firsthand, having overdosed on opiates in 2014. He was found unresponsive in a snowbank on the side of the road and was revived by emergency responders at the scene.
Now three years sober, Bryan has this to say about life since completing the Narconon Program at Narconon New Life Retreat, “Even though life is still full of problems and challenges, I have learned how to grow from these experiences and have found a path I am happy with.”
This year more than ever, it is crucial to raise awareness for overdoses. Despite the efforts of many in the United States, 2016 still showed an increase in drug overdose deaths making it the most tragic year in history for drug overdoses.
A few, relatively simple things anyone can do are to properly dispose of any unused prescriptions which might find their way into the wrong hands, get trained in the use of and carry Naloxone (an opiate antagonist which can reverse an opiate overdose) and insist and assist loved ones or friends to seek treatment for drug addiction.
Source: Narconon New Life Retreat
