International Overdose Awareness Day turns 25 on Monday, August 31. It began in Melbourne, Australia in 2001 as a small remembrance run out of a Salvation Army program, and it has grown into the world's largest annual campaign to end overdose. The 2026 theme doesn't celebrate the anniversary so much as regret it: “25 Years On. Still Needed.”
Camden County has marked the day for years. In past observances the county lit the Ben Franklin Bridge and Camden City Hall purple and held a moment of silence for the people lost — and it built something permanent, too: the Remembrance and Hope Memorial at Timber Creek Park in Gloucester Township stands year-round for the thousands of local families who have lost someone since 2010. Check the county's site and the worldwide events map at overdoseday.com for what's planned this year.
If you're one of those families, this day is yours. Overdose grief tends to get carried quietly — the obituary that says “died suddenly,” the questions you stop answering. August 31 is the one day the quiet part gets said out loud, in public, next to people who understand it exactly.
For everyone else, the most useful thing you can do takes about ten minutes: get naloxone. New Jersey gives it away free and anonymously to anyone 14 or older at participating pharmacies — no prescription, no name taken — and will even mail it to you. If you're near someone who uses opioids, or 7-OH off a gas-station shelf, keeping it within reach isn't dramatic. It's a fire extinguisher. If you watch an overdose happen: call 911, give naloxone, give rescue breaths if they aren't breathing, and turn the person on their side once breathing returns.
Overdose deaths in Camden County dropped sharply from 2023 to 2024, which is worth saying out loud on a day like this: showing up works. And if the person you're thinking about is still here, the day's best use is a conversation, not a candle. ReachNJ offers addiction support around the clock, SAMHSA's helpline is 1-800-662-4357, and in crisis you can call or text 988.