Last year, 101 people died from fentanyl-related overdoses in Montgomery County. On Thursday, county leaders and families joined a remembrance ceremony and vigil in Rockville ahead of International Overdose Awareness Day.
International Overdose Awareness Day is this Saturday, Aug. 31.
Between January to July this year, there have been 45 overdose deaths in the county, with 32 being related to opioids including 28 related to fentanyl, according to the state’s overdose data dashboard.
During Thursday’s event, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor said that just that day, Narcan — the medicine that counteracts an opioid overdose — was administered in a high school as a precautionary measure. Thursday was the fourth day of the school year.
Taylor said that, based on an initiative proposed by the student member of the school board Praneel Suvarna — security staff and administrative assistants were trained in Narcan use prior to the start of the school year and MCPS is working to supply those staff with Narcan.
The event is now in its ninth year. Laura Mitchell, co-founder of the Montgomery Goes Purple initiative to prevent substance use harm and overdose, said her message is the same as it ever is: “prevention, prevention, prevention.”
“But when that window is closed, then we have to look at harm reduction, making sure that we keep people alive and well until they are in treatment and in recovery. And making sure that we support them in their recovery so that they stay in recovery for the rest of their life. It is possible for anybody, but it’s hard to see when you’re in that mix,” Mitchell said.
“We’ve got to work together to address stigma so that people will be open to have the conversations about what’s going on in the county but also in the country,” said Ben Stevenson II, acting manager of prevention and harm reduction services with county health and human services. “We’ve got to be open and honest with our young people.”
