Pubdate: Sat, 30 Aug 2014
Source: Santa Monica Mirror (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Santa Monica Mirror
Contact:  http://www.smmirror.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/970
Note: by Mirror Staff

INTERNATIONAL OVERDOSE AWARENESS DAY MARCH THIS SUNDAY IN SANTA MONICA

The Los Angeles chapter of A New PATH is demanding greater access to
Naloxone for overdose prevention and to eliminate the stigma by
treating drug overdoses like any other medical emergency.

As part of the 14th annual
International Overdose Awareness Day this Sunday, Aug. 31, a march
will be held in Santa Monica through the streets and Beachfront Walk.

The organizers of the event is the Los Angeles chapter of A New PATH
(Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing) and Moms United who are
bringing together the Drug Policy Alliance, Amity Foundation, LEAP
(Law Enforcement Against Prohibition), The Center for Living and
Learning, Oasis Women's Recovering Community, Broken No More, GRASP,
and Paso Por Paso to join similar organizations throughout the U.S.
and abroad who will be participating in the day.

The day honors and remembers those who have lost their lives to
accidental overdose. It is also an opportunity to educate the public
and policymakers about the growing overdose crisis in the United
States "" and to offer concrete solutions that save lives.

Join the chapter on Sunday, Aug. 31 at 10:15 am at the Santa Monica
Civic Center at Pico and Main Streets in Santa Monica, California.

Approximately 75 or more members will walk in a funeral procession
from the Civic Center down Pico to the Beachfront Walk and onto the
Santa Monica Pier.

The group will then proceed on to Palisades Park where members of the
march will stage a "oeDie In"  followed by a "oeLive Again"  and
press conference where individuals will bring awareness to the lives
lost due to accidental overdose and share lives saved due to the use
of Naloxone (a non-narcotic drug that can reverse an overdose).

The chapter is demanding greater access to Naloxone for overdose
prevention and to eliminate the stigma by treating drug overdoses like
any other medical emergency.

Currently, A New PATH is one of only a few organizations authorized to
train individuals for AB 635 Naloxone emergency dosing and is
supportive of Assembly Member Bloom and Drug Policy Alliance's AB
1535 which will make emergency doses of Naloxone available through
your local pharmacist..

August 31 will celebrate PATH L.A.'s "oeperformance art"  happening
4th annual event in L.A. County.

"oeLast year we marched passed and held a moment of silence at the
L.A. County Morgue remembering those loved ones who passed through
those halls,"  Advocate Actor/Director Johnny Whitaker, Director of A
New PATH "" LA said. "I will again be honoring five dear friends on
Sunday, Aug. 31 who lost the battle struggling with addictive illness."

Johnny's co-star, Anissa Jones, "oeBuffy"  died needlessly after
ingesting "oethe largest quantity of drugs seen by the San Diego
County Coroner"  due to Quaaludes in 1976.

Johnny's friend, Dana Plato ("Different Strokes"), died in 1999 of
multiple drugs. Naloxone could have saved her life.

Kirk Douglas' son and half-brother of Michael, Eric Douglas was a
close friend of Whitaker as well whose battle fighting his demons
ended in 2004.

"oeWe will also remember those who have died this year including
Phillip Seymour Hoffman and others as we celebrate our friends,
family, the famous and infamous who died overdose deaths and whose
lives and their overdose deaths will not go unnoticed," Whitaker said.

Drug overdose remains a leading cause of accidental death in the
United States.

More than 100 people die in the United States each day from
preventable, accidental overdose.

Nationally, a number of states have recently passed 911 Good Samaritan
laws, including California, in 2012.

On demand Naloxone availability laws and harm reduction education are
also essential.

Maria Alexander, a PATH LA and Mom's United Member as well as
Executive Director of Center for Living & Learning and a person in
recovery from Alcohol and Drugs claims Naloxone saved her life five
times.

"Today, my children have a mother," Alexander said. "Today I help
others in recovery transition to self-sufficiency and regain their
lives and families."

International Overdose Awareness Day, started by the Salvation Army in
Australia in 2001, and is an opportunity for people around the world
to publicly mourn loved ones without guilt or shame. Many
participating countries also use this day to send a strong message to
people who currently and formerly used drugs that their lives are
valued and that no one should ever die from a preventable fatal drug
overdose."(  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D